The Semiconductor Trade Wars

The ongoing intensification of the US-China semiconductor trade war is directly involving US allies and partners in the US-led trade sanctions and export control against China, while even more states are eyeing opportunities to benefit from the trade diversions resulting from the trade war. The current trade war has similarities and differences compared to the previous semiconductor war between the US and Japan of the 1980s-1990s. This panel builds on examining continuity and changes in the nature of the semiconductor industry, the ways states view the industry, the policymaking structures, and the geopolitical contexts surrounding international investment and trade. The evolution (or lack thereof) in the multilateral governance of high-tech trade and the tools of policy interventions and their successes will likely yield far more insights than the current journalistic interpretations of the ongoing Sino-US trade war from an overwhelmingly geopolitical viewpoint. This more detailed and nuanced approach to studying the semiconductor trade wars allows us to answer questions such as: “Why and to what extent are Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and other major players cooperating with the US in imposing trade restrictions against China?”, “What is the bargaining among the US and its allies and partners?”, “What is the degree of policy cohesion among the US and its allies and partners?”, “What are the Chinese responses and the risks they bring onto the US-led strategy?” This panel gathers papers that examine the policy of key states as the analytical focus, including the US, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, India, Turkey, and Malaysia.