Chip Wars Revisited: Geoeconomics, Security, Taiwan, and the Global Tech Battle

Semiconductors have become the most strategic resource of the 21st century. They power everything from smartphones and data centers to fighter jets and unofficial intelligence, and whoever controls this technology controls the future of military and economic power. The global chip industry now sits at the intersection of economic, security and ideology. It is shaping how the United States, China and allies like Taiwan and Japan compete for advantage.

Our guest today is Dr. Chris Miller, a professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is also a non-resident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a thinktank in Washington, D.C. His most recent book is Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology. It was a New York Times Best Seller and a winner of the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 2024 History Prize.

This episode was created in partnership with NOWNEWS, through its English-language platform Taiwan Current News (https://www.tcn.tw/).

Timestamps:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:45] Chip Control During Trump 1.0
[03:09] Is Technology Denial Achievable?
[04:42] Implications for Mid-Tier Firms and Economy
[07:18] European Investment Screening - Effective or Fragmented?

[08:57] Avoiding Chokepoints in Critical Minerals
[11:41] Timeline for Reducing US Dependencies on Rare Earths

[14:28] Lutnick’s 50-50 Goal
[17:14] Silicon Valley Model & USG Support
[19:50] CHIPS Act – Global Impact & Unintended Consequences
[22:47] Balancing Export Controls and Maintaining Tech Leadership
[26:43] Revisiting the Silicon Shield
[30:20] Updates to Chip War: AI & Advanced Packaging

[32:33] The US-China AI Tech Stack Competition