Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Wesley Chu, a research fellow of the Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School and former General Counsel of Foxconn—one of the world’s largest manufacturers—about how Trump 2.0’s trade deal is reshaping the future of Taiwanese manufacturing. As the administration accelerates its push to “make it in America,” Taiwan’s firms find themselves at the center of a historic supply‑chain reset. Drawing on his experience, Wesley explains why the new U.S.–Taiwan investment deal is “not perfect, but workable,” how rising cross‑strait risk and U.S. national security demands are forcing Taiwanese companies to move beyond low‑margin OEM work, and what it really takes to survive in high‑cost states like Arizona and Texas. From AI servers and drones to “one world, two systems” production lines and a desperately needed Taiwan tech firewall, he offers a blunt insider view of how Taiwan can shift from “made in Taiwan” to “made with Taiwan”—and why it must become a true silicon hub, not simply relying on a silicon shield.

00:00 Taiwan's Strategic Investment in the U.S.
02:43 Challenges and Opportunities for Taiwanese Companies
05:46 Shifting from OEM to Value-Driven Partnerships
08:32 Taiwan's Role in the Global Supply Chain
11:24 Diversification and Regional Manufacturing
14:29 The Concept of 'Made with Taiwan'
17:31 Defense Tech and New Opportunities
20:06 Managing Operations in China
23:07 Building a Technology Firewall
25:58 Taiwan's Future in AI and Beyond

Perspectives with Wenchi Yu

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