The Taiwanese government added the two Chinese companies, Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), to the export control list, which includes other banned organizations.
The inclusion of the two companies on the list of strategic high-tech goods entities by the U.S. Department of Commerce means that Taiwanese companies will need government approval before exporting any products to them.
The companies were listed in an updated version of the ministry's commerce department website late Saturday. Neither the company nor the Ministry of Economy immediately responded to requests for comment.
Taiwan is home to TSMC - the largest chip manufacturer in the world and a major supplier of chips to Nvidia - a leader in artificial intelligence, and both Huawei and SMIC are striving to catch up in the chip technology race.
Taiwan already imposes strict controls on the export of electronic chips concerning Taiwanese companies that manufacture in the country or supply Chinese firms.
Huawei - which is at the center of China's ambitions in artificial intelligence - is listed on the U.S. Department of Commerce's trade blacklist, preventing it from receiving U.S. goods and technology, as well as foreign-made goods, such as chips from companies like TSMC made with U.S. technology.
Last October, TechInsights - a Canadian tech research company - dismantled Huawei's AI processor 910B and found a TSMC chip inside. The 910B multi-chip processor is considered the most advanced AI accelerator produced by a Chinese company in mass quantities.
TSMC suspended its shipments to Suvgo - a Chinese chip designer - whose chip matches that found in the Huawei 910B processor.
In November, the U.S. Department of Commerce ordered TSMC to halt shipments of more chips to Chinese customers.
The Taiwanese government has repeatedly pledged to combat what it describes as attempts by Chinese companies, including SMIC, to steal technology and attract specialized chip talent away from the island.
SMIC is the largest Chinese chip manufacturer and has increased its investments to expand its production capacity and strengthen China's domestic semiconductor production capability in the face of stringent U.S. export controls.
