Hi from Taipei, everyone! This is Cheng Ting-Fang, your TechAsia host for this week.
It’s been a roller-coaster two weeks for many supply chain executives and managers, with the world’s two largest economies slapping tariffs of 125 per cent or more on each other and the US threatening “reciprocal” tariffs on most of its trading partners and further tightening AI chip export controls.
Key suppliers across Asia providing everything from components to final assembly for Apple, Samsung, HP, Dell, Amazon and Meta have been on call nearly 24/7 to deal with the fallout — and with some close contacts at these suppliers, I feel like I am sitting in the back seat watching this real-life drama unfold.