Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has unexpected repercussions. Beyond raising tensions between China and the United States, the landing of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives in Taipei on August 2 has a direct impact on Apple.
China has decided to apply an ancient law hitherto ignored, says Nikkei Asia. It requires that all products made in Taiwan refer to the island as part of Chinese territory. If destined for China, Taiwanese shipping forms, documents, or boxes must be marked “Taiwan, China” or “Chinese Taipei.”
Avoid any interruption of supply.
So Apple had to send a reminder to its suppliers, including chip giant TSMC. The company asked them to make a contingency plan and change their shipping labels. Because in case of non-compliance with this forgotten rule, the Chinese customs can block the shipments. A fine of up to 4,000 yuan, or about 580 euros, can be imposed, but shipments can also be refused.
It is this scenario that worries Apple. The group wants to avoid any interruption in supply. This fall, a new wave of Apple products should be released, including the iPhone 14 or the Apple Watch Series 8.
On Thursday, August 4, Chinese customs stopped a shipment. It was a shipment from Taiwan to Pegatron, which assembles iPhones in China. The day before, Nancy Pelosi had lunch with one of the Pegatron executives and several other chip industry officials.
Source: BFM TV
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