US–Taiwan Tech & Trade: The US trade deficit hit $88.6B in July, with the gap vs Taiwan reaching a record $20.7B as AI-driven imports of computers and semiconductors surged. Semiconductor Tariffs & Investment: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says upcoming chip tariffs will follow a “build here, don’t pay” model, while Taiwan is reportedly shifting 40% of chip manufacturing to the US and planning further US$20B+ investment as protectionism looms. AI Chips & Supply Chains: Google is speeding TPU mass production and expanding Taiwanese server supply-chain partners; Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.9B to deepen its AI platform reach. Local Hardware for Defense: Taiwan’s Cabinet approved NT$19.12B supplementary funding for large-scale drone and unmanned surface vessel procurement, and the Army budgeted NT$1.7B for locally built “Cheetah” wheeled armored vehicles. Advanced Packaging & Materials: Electroninks, EMD Electronics, and Qualipoly will run a shared packaging materials application lab to speed qualification. Data-Center Cooling: Liteon will buy ~25% of DCX Liquid Cooling for about $176M to build integrated power-and-cooling platforms for AI racks. Quantum Ecosystem: SEEQC signed an MOU with Taiwan’s quantum office to expand quantum tech, manufacturing, testing, and supply-chain links. Health & Tech Collaboration: Taiwan-linked teams helped perform pediatric surgeries in Mongolia, highlighting cross-border medical capability building.