produce – Our Story Insight https://www.ourstoryinsight.com Product that tells our story Tue, 30 Sep 2025 08:29:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.ourstoryinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Capture-removebg-preview-22-e1635416645194-150x150.png produce – Our Story Insight https://www.ourstoryinsight.com 32 32 Taiwan should only produce half of America’s chips, says U.S. Commerce Chief https://www.ourstoryinsight.com/taiwan-should-only-produce-half-of-americas-chips-says-u-s-commerce-chief/ https://www.ourstoryinsight.com/taiwan-should-only-produce-half-of-americas-chips-says-u-s-commerce-chief/#respond Tue, 30 Sep 2025 08:29:21 +0000 https://www.ourstoryinsight.com/?p=9698 A logo of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) displayed on a smartphone screen Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images The Trump administration is pushing Taipei to shift investment and chip production to the U.S. so that half of America’s chips are manufactured domestically, in a move that could have implications for Taiwan’s […]

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A logo of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) displayed on a smartphone screen

Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

The Trump administration is pushing Taipei to shift investment and chip production to the U.S. so that half of America’s chips are manufactured domestically, in a move that could have implications for Taiwan’s national defense. 

Washington has held discussions with Taipei about the “50-50” split in semiconductor production, which would significantly reduce American dependence on Taiwan, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told News Nation in an interview released over the weekend. 

Taiwan is said to produce over 90% of the world’s advanced semiconductors, which, according to Lutnick, is cause for concern due to the island nation’s distance from the U.S. and proximity to China. 

“My objective, and this administration’s objective, is to get chip manufacturing significantly onshored — we need to make our own chips,” Lutnick said. “The idea that I pitched [Taiwan] was, let’s get to 50-50. We’re producing half, and you’re producing half.” 

Lutnick’s goal is to reach about 40% domestic semiconductor production by the end of U.S. President Donald Trump’s current term, which would take northwards of $500 billion in local investments, he said. 

Taiwan’s stronghold on chip production is thanks to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest and most advanced contract chipmaker, which handles production for American tech heavyweights like Nvidia and Apple. 

Taiwan’s critical position in global chips production is believed to have assured the island nation’s defense against direct military action from China, often referred to as the “Silicon Shield” theory.

However, in his News Nation interview, Lutnick downplayed the “Silicon Shield,” and argued that Taiwan would be safer with more balanced chip production between the U.S. and Taiwan.

“My argument to them was, well, if you have 95% [chip production], how am I going to get it to protect you? You’re going to put it on a plane? You’re going to put it on a boat?” Lutnick said. 

Under the 50-50 plan, the U.S. would still be “fundamentally reliant” on Taiwan, but would have the capacity to “do what we need to do, if we need to do it,” he added.

Beijing views the democratically governed island of Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to reclaim it by force if necessary. Taipei’s current ruling party has rejected and pushed back against such claims. 

This year, the Chinese military has held a number of large-scale exercises off the coast of Taiwan as it tests its military capabilities. During one of China’s military drills in April, Washington reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Taiwan. 

More in return for defense

Lutnick’s statements on the News Nation interview aligned with past comments from Trump, suggesting that the U.S. should get more in return for its defense of the island nation against China. 

Last year, then-presidential candidate Trump had said in an interview that Taiwan should pay the U.S. for defense, and accused the country of “stealing” the United States’ chip business. 

The U.S. was once a leader in the global semiconductor market, but has lost market share due to industry shifts and the emergence of Asian juggernauts like TSMC and Samsung. 

However, Washington has been working to reverse that trend across multiple administrations. 

TSMC has been building manufacturing facilities in the U.S. since 2020 and has continued to ramp up its investments in the country. It announced intentions to invest an additional $100 billion in March, bringing its total planned investment to $165 billion. 

The Trump administration recently proposed 100% tariffs on semiconductors, but said that companies investing in the U.S. would be exempt. The U.S. and Taiwan also remain in trade negotiations that are likely to impact tariff rates for Taiwanese businesses. 

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]]> https://www.ourstoryinsight.com/taiwan-should-only-produce-half-of-americas-chips-says-u-s-commerce-chief/feed/ 0 Trump Mexico tariffs will raise produce prices, Target CEO Cornell says https://www.ourstoryinsight.com/trump-mexico-tariffs-will-raise-produce-prices-target-ceo-cornell-says/ https://www.ourstoryinsight.com/trump-mexico-tariffs-will-raise-produce-prices-target-ceo-cornell-says/#respond Wed, 05 Mar 2025 01:45:52 +0000 https://www.ourstoryinsight.com/?p=5650 Shoppers will likely see produce prices increase in the coming days due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Mexican imports, Target CEO Brian Cornell said Tuesday. The Trump administration’s 25% levies on goods from Mexico and Canada, along with an additional 10% duty on Chinese imports, took effect Tuesday. Cornell said Target relies heavily on […]

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Shoppers will likely see produce prices increase in the coming days due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Mexican imports, Target CEO Brian Cornell said Tuesday.

The Trump administration’s 25% levies on goods from Mexico and Canada, along with an additional 10% duty on Chinese imports, took effect Tuesday.

Cornell said Target relies heavily on Mexican produce during the winter months, and the tariffs could force the company to raise prices on fruits and vegetables as soon as this week.

“Those are categories where we’ll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days,” he told CNBC in an interview after Target released its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.

“If there’s a 25% tariff, those prices will go up,” Cornell added.

Cornell said prices could rise for produce like strawberries, avocados and bananas.

Read more CNBC tariffs coverage

During an investor day later that morning, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said it was too early to provide more specifics on the products and categories that will see price increases because “teams are working through it in real time” and the company has to look at pricing holistically.

“I’ll give you an example. We have $3 Christmas ornaments. We don’t want to have $3.60 Christmas ornaments. We want to keep them at $3. That means we have to think about margin elsewhere. So maybe we’ll take pricing up a little bit on stockings to cover where we are in Christmas ornaments,” said Gomez.

Another example he cited was Target’s “$5 tees.” The company wants to continue charging $5 flat for T-shirts. So while it may leave that price unchanged, it has more flexibility to hike prices for other products, such as dresses.

“So maybe we’ll look at dresses a little bit differently,” said Gomez. “So it’s actually not as simple as just like flowing through cost. We have to think about this from a consumer perspective and make sure that our pricing architecture makes sense and puts us in a place where we are competitive and we have affordable options.”

Target Corp. CEO, Brian Cornell speaks during an interview on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange November 28, 2014.

Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

While inflation has eased in recent months, price increases have not moderated as much as the Federal Reserve has hoped. High costs for food and housing have continued to stretch consumer budgets, and Trump’s tariffs have raised fears that households will face even higher expenses. The president and his advisors have contended the duties will not raise prices for consumers.

When asked if he had spoken to Trump directly about the impact tariffs will have on prices, Cornell told CNBC he has “not had that conversation” with the president and instead has relied on the retail industry’s lobbying arm to speak on Target’s behalf.

“We’ve certainly been very active in Washington making sure that we provide our point of view, and we rely on [the National Retail Federation] and the industry to provide our perspective to a broad number of members of the administration,” said Cornell. “So we worked very closely with [the NRF and the Retail Industry Leaders Association] to make sure that collectively, our voice is being heard and we can share some of our insights and potential implications.”

When asked about China, Cornell downplayed concerns about how the cumulative 20% duties on goods from the region will affect shoppers. Cornell said Target has reduced its reliance on China to about 30% of imports from more than 60%. It’s on pace to get that number down to below 25% by the end of the next year, added Gomez.

The company has been able to reduce its reliance on China by turning to emerging manufacturing markets in the Western Hemisphere. Currently, only 17% of Target’s apparel — a key high-margin category for the company — is manufactured in China after production was shifted to countries like Guatemala and Honduras, said Gomez. That shift in supply chain is key to getting products to customers faster and also doesn’t come with the same raw material concerns associating with sourcing cotton in China.

Cornell’s comments come after Target posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street’s expectations but cast a pall over the current quarter. The company said it’s bracing for a weak current quarter in part because of how tariff concerns are impacting shopping, along with sliding consumer confidence, which dropped in February to its lowest level since 2021.

Target’s guidance is the latest warning sign about the health of the economy, as it joined other retailers like Walmart, E.l.f. Beauty and Home Depot in giving weaker-than-expected first-quarter or full-year guidance.

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