Chip designer Mediatek gets Taiwan nod to export goods to ZTE

Nanya Technology

07/05/2018 05:12

By Jess Macy Yu and Jeanny Kao
    TAIPEI, May 7 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chip designer Mediatek
Inc  2454.TW  has received an export permit from the government
to sell components to ZTE Corp  000063.SZ , a Chinese telecoms
equipment maker subjected to restrictions in the United States.
    The U.S. government last month banned American firms from
selling to ZTE for seven years, saying the company had failed to
comply with a settlement related to ZTE shipping U.S.-made goods
to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1RT0IX
    Following the U.S. ban, Taiwan had instructed local firms
wanting to ship goods to ZTE to apply for permission. 
    Mediatek confirmed to Reuters on Monday that it had received
the export permit last week to ship products to ZTE. 
    An official with Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade said the
government had approved a permit for Mediatek, and that it had
received applications from "several" other tech firms.
    "We fully understand high-tech factories' characteristic of
fast-paced shipments of goods, we won't create obstacles for the
pace of their exports," the foreign trade official told Reuters,
on condition of anonymity. 
    "Taiwan's government has its own control mechanisms, which
is independent of the way the U.S. looks at it in a given
situation," the official said. "The mechanism will consider
America and other advanced countries' controls." 
    He said the permit that Taiwan had issued, or was looking to
issue, would give domestic companies permission to proceed with
exports to firms on the government's watch list. 
    He did not give names of the other companies that had
applied for permission, but said chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp
 2408.TW  was not one of them.
    Shipments to ZTE by Nanya Tech will be hurt in the short
term given the government's procedure, local media has reported.
    A Nanya Tech spokesperson was not immediately available for
comment on Monday. 

 (Editing by Himani Sarkar)
 ((JessicaMacy.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2500-4882;))