The Ministry of Economy of Taiwan announced the expansion of restrictions on the export of high-tech products to Russia, as well as Belarus. The changes came into effect on January 4th.

The Ministry added 52 items to the new list, mainly related to "materials used in nuclear power", various goods and materials, chemicals and products for the engineering industry. The Taiwanese authorities say that these are high-tech goods that can be used for military purposes.

The ministry clarifies that export restrictions have been introduced by the United States, the European Union, Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as other "like-minded allies", and Taiwan is bringing its regulatory framework in line with the decisions of the "democratic allies". Prior to making the amendments, the ministry held consultations with the island's industry associations and manufacturers in late 2022 to exchange views on expanding the restrictions. The authorities reportedly helped businesses doing business with Russia and Belarus to diversify supplies and urged them to comply with sanctions and “due diligence” when doing business with our countries.

The Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) emphasizes that strict licensing is expected for the export of high-tech goods in accordance with published lists. When deciding on export applications, the Bureau will consider whether exporters have already received payments before the announcement of the expansion of the list of export restrictions and whether the exported goods will be supplied to end users involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry announced that it was joining the anti-Russian sanctions back in February 2022, banning, in particular, the export of lithographic equipment and extremely limiting the list of semiconductors available for export. It is known that Russian customers still cannot receive domestically developed processors already paid for and released.