Ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, DSET and CommonWealth Magazine have partnered to launch an exclusive international interview series analyzing the future of Taiwan-U.S. semiconductor cooperation. Led by DSET’s Economic Security Research Program and DSET’s Washington-based research fellows, the series features interviews with leading experts on U.S. technology geopolitics, including Chris Miller (Chip War author), Kevin Wolf (former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration), and Matthew Turpin (former U.S. National Security Council Director for China during Trump’s first term). Each expert provides key insights and recommendations on semiconductor policy under Trump 2.0 and the future of Taiwan’s collaboration with the United States.
Exclusive Interviews on Trump 2.0 and Taiwan-U.S. Semiconductor Relations
The first interview in the series features Chris Miller, author of Chip War. The discussion explores the potential impact of Trump’s tariff policies, U.S. export controls, and the future of the CHIPS Act on TSMC’s investments in the U.S.. Miller also shares his perspectives on China’s growing presence in mature-node semiconductor manufacturing, loopholes in U.S. AI export controls, and how Taiwan can seize strategic opportunities amid global supply chain realignments.
The second interview is with Kevin Wolf, who served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration under the Obama administration. Wolf is currently a partner at Akin Gump, specializing in export control compliance, and a researcher at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET).
With over 30 years of experience in export control policy, Wolf played a key role in drafting the Obama administration’s Export Control Reform Initiative and has served as a Commerce Department representative to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Given that semiconductors and the defense industry are now central to U.S.-led export control regimes, Wolf provides an in-depth assessment of the future trajectory of export controls under Trump 2.0.
The third interview features Matthew Turpin, who was Director for China at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) during Trump’s first term and played a leading role in shaping U.S. semiconductor competition strategy against China. Turpin is now a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a senior advisor at Palantir Technologies.
He is also a co-author of the 2023 book Silicon Triangle: The Geopolitics of Semiconductor Security in the U.S., Taiwan, and China. In this interview, Turpin offers a comprehensive evaluation of Biden’s semiconductor policies, China’s advancements in advanced-node chips, risks associated with China’s overcapacity in mature-node semiconductors, and the future of Taiwan-U.S. cooperation in the semiconductor industry.
This three-part international interview series, published in collaboration with CommonWealth Magazine, aims to provide Taiwanese readers with a forward-looking analysis of Taiwan-U.S. semiconductor policy under Trump 2.0.
DSET to Release New Policy Report on U.S. Semiconductor Policy Under Trump 2.0
In response to Trump’s new presidential term, DSET will also release a policy report this week, titled Walking a Tightrope: Navigating Taiwan-U.S. Semiconductor Security Under Trump 2.0. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the evolution of U.S. export controls, investment screening mechanisms, CHIPS Act implementation, and tariff policies, along with their impact on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.
Since the 2024 U.S. presidential election, DSET has conducted interviews with six influential figures in Washington who have played a key role in shaping U.S. semiconductor strategy. These include leading think tank scholars and former senior U.S. government officials. With their permission, DSET has included full transcripts of these interviews as an appendix to the report.
The interviewees include:
- Prof. Chris Miller – Author of Chip War, Professor at Tufts University.
- Dr. Kevin Wolf – Former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration under the Obama administration, currently a partner at Akin Gump and senior visiting fellow at CSET.
- Mr. Matthew Turpin – Former Director for China at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) under Trump, now a visiting fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.
- Mr. Jimmy Goodrich – Former Vice President of Global Policy at the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), now a senior advisor at the RAND Corporation.
- Prof. Kim Mi-Yong – Former senior export control officer at the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), who was stationed in Taiwan twice while overseeing U.S.-Taiwan economic security cooperation at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
- Dr. Kharis Templeman – Co-author of Silicon Triangle, researcher at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and a leading expert on Taiwan’s semiconductor security strategy.
By engaging with these top experts across different U.S. administrations, DSET aims to outline a clearer roadmap for Taiwan-U.S. cooperation on semiconductor security and economic policy under Trump 2.0.
Select content from the DSET policy report will be published on January 21 via the DSET official website. Stay tuned for further updates.