On January 21, 2026, GlobalWafers chairwoman Doris Hsu spoke to the media about the recent US-Taiwan tariff agreement, which lowers Taiwan's reciprocal tariffs to 15% without stacking most-favored-nation (MFN) rates. This makes Taiwan the first country to secure tariff relief under Section 232. Both sides also plan to expand supply chain investment cooperation. Hsu called this a very positive outcome for Taiwan's overall industry and said it has eased market concerns.
Despite the debut of the Alpamayo self-driving AI architecture by Nvidia at CES 2026, Mercedes-Benz, the earliest adoptor of the architecture, instead turned to focus on enhanced Level 2 systems (L2+) with the removal of the L3 autonomous driving functionalities in the refreshed version of its flagship S-Class in late January.
A cluster of China's leading electronics manufacturers and component suppliers is entering the new year with a clearer division of labor across the AI device wave, automotive electrification, and globalized manufacturing. Recent company filings, investor communications, and post‑autumn analyst commentary point to a common theme: growth is being pursued less through single-product cycles and more through platform capabilities—vertical integration, module-level design, and cross‑sector customer expansion—while capital market actions and overseas footprints are being positioned as strategic amplifiers.
TYC Brother Industrial, with 40 years of global experience in the automotive supply chain, is expanding its manufacturing operations to the US, signaling a strategic shift amid evolving industry dynamics. Chuang Tai-Shie, a member of the company's board of directors, emphasized that this move reflects broader trends reshaping global manufacturing and supply chains.
A century-old automotive trading relationship between the US and Canada is approaching a breaking point, accelerated by repeated statements from President Trump that have cast doubt on the future of cross-border integration.
The global market for robotaxis is set to move decisively from long-held promise to commercial reality in 2026, as autonomous driving shifts from experimental pilots to an increasingly competitive business.
President Trump's recent decision to link the question of Greenland's sovereignty with punitive tariffs has sent a chill through Europe's auto industry and Asia's manufacturing supply chains. What might once have been dismissed as a trade dispute now looks more like a form of geopolitical brinkmanship; an attempt to bind industrial lifelines to strategic demands.
The opening of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this year offered a revealing portrait of an industry caught at the intersection of political crosscurrents and technological transition—and increasingly at risk of losing its strategic focus. The concern, executives say, is no longer confined to fluctuations in production or sales, but points to something more fundamental: a strategic retreat that could undermine America's industrial sovereignty and long-term competitiveness.
At CES 2026 in the US, Nvidia unveiled its open-source vision-language-action (VLA) model series, Alpamayo, signaling a new phase in the development of autonomous driving technologies. The launch has intensified competition among global automakers, which are now ramping up investment and racing to secure computing power centered on VLA architectures.
As electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies spread rapidly, and as automotive electrical and electronic (E/E) architectures grow more centralized, the value of semiconductors embedded in each vehicle is rising sharply. According to an analysis by DIGITIMES, the average semiconductor content per car is expected to increase from about US$759 in 2024 to US$1,332 by 2030.
Tesla aims to shorten its in-house AI chip design cycle to one generation every nine months, targeting rivals Nvidia and AMD. However, industry analysts highlight automotive safety verification and software stability as the biggest bottlenecks.
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