Home ›› 20 Aug 2021 ›› World Biz
A trio of Democratic US senators has asked the Taiwanese government for more help to address the ongoing chip shortage that has left numerous American auto production lines standing idle at times, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
The letter, dated August 18 and not previously made public, was sent by Michigan Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow and Ohio’s Sherrod Brown to Taiwan’s de facto ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim, praising his “efforts to address the shortage.”
But the senators added they were “hopeful you will continue to work with your government and foundries to do everything possible to mitigate the risk confronting our state economies.”
The shortage has prompted new rounds of production cuts, auto worker layoffs and rippled through the economies of states that are heavily dependent on the auto industry.
The Taiwanese government did not immediately comment Thursday.
Ford Motor Co on Wednesday said it would halt output for a week starting Monday at production lines that build its best-selling F-150 pickup trucks because of the shortage. Meanwhile, General Motors Co suspended production for a week at three North American truck plants earlier this month because of the same issue.
Nissan Motor earlier this month halted production for two weeks at a major Tennessee plant over Covid-19 in Malaysia and chips issues.
An auto trade group has estimated that because of the chip shortage there could be 1.3 million fewer vehicles made in the United States in 2021, or a more than 10 per cent cut over pre-pandemic levels.
