Four Asian countries lead in US chip diversification move away from Taiwan, China

Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Cambodia have emerged as early winners this year as semiconductor production begins to move away from traditional centers such as Taiwan and China.

US imports of chips grew 17 percent from last year to $4.86 billion in February, according to US Census data, with Asia accounting for 83 percent of that total. India saw its semiconductor shipments increase 34 times to $152 million, while Cambodia clocked in an impressive 698 percent growth, falling just shy of Japan at $166 million, an amount that would be unheard of in years past.

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Vietnam and Thailand, which both have much bigger slices of the chipmaking market, increased their US trade in the sector by 75 percent and 62 percent, respectively. Vietnam has accounted for over 10 percent of US imports for seven straight months.

US officials have expressed growing concern about their country’s overreliance on overseas suppliers, such as Taiwan and South Korea, for the most advanced chipmaking. “Our dependence on Taiwan for chips is untenable and unsafe,” US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a crowd at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado in July.

Read more: India expects chipmakers to start local manufacturing in two to three years