The US is rapidly reshaping the cost structure of its solar supply chain under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. According to a recent webinar hosted by Intertek CEA, the US-based solar advisory arm of British multinational group Intertek, new minimum import prices (MIP) and tariffs are driving up the cost of imported modules, paving the way for domestic manufacturers to achieve market dominance by 2027.

Taiwan's carbon fee has been formally included in the UK government's list of Qualifying Carbon Pricing Schemes (QCPS) under its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), alongside major carbon pricing systems in the EU, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. The Ministry of Environment said the move shows Taiwan's carbon pricing framework is now aligned with international systems and will help export industries respond to global carbon border measures while maintaining competitiveness.

Foxlink and Yongwei Investment Holdings each held board meetings on the 31st and decided to participate in the tender offer for Shinfox Energy, planning to dispose of their Shinfox shares at NT$0.05 per share. The move would strip the Foxlink Group of control over Shinfox and reduce the financial drag from the renewable energy company's losses.

LG Energy Solution has signed a long-term supply agreement with Smackover Lithium for battery-grade lithium carbonate, a move that could strengthen supply chains for energy storage systems and electric vehicles at a time when global demand for critical minerals remains tight.

Buima swung back to profitability in the second quarter of 2026 as a recovery in its battery module shipments and gains from asset disposal lifted results. The company said demand tied to low Earth orbit satellites, wearable devices, and other applications helped improve profitability, while margin measures and earnings per share reached quarterly records.

LG Display (LGD) has introduced a new "PFAS-free" component verification process for suppliers as it prepares for expected European Union (EU) restrictions on PFAS, aiming to eliminate the so-called "forever chemicals" across all products by 2035.

Tim Cook's most durable non-financial decision was to treat environmental and social performance as product attributes rather than corporate disclosure. It worked well enough that Apple's own succession announcement lists it alongside silicon and services. It also leaves John Ternus a set of commitments that get harder every year, a legal challenge to the way they are advertised, and no executive whose full-time job is to deliver them.

As global net-zero efforts intensify, governments and major technology companies are investing in emerging nuclear technologies to meet the huge electricity demand from AI data centers and the semiconductor industry. Because nuclear power offers zero-carbon emissions, small modular reactors (SMRs) are drawing growing attention as a potential new power solution in the AI era.

A move by SpaceX to manufacture turbine blades in-house could ease a global bottleneck in AI infrastructure, where power equipment is now as constrained as chips. If successful, the plan could speed data center buildouts, shift supply chains, and strengthen Musk's control over the timing of new energy capacity.

Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation (SSFC) is taking a cautiously optimistic view of operations in the second half of 2026. Despite geopolitical volatility and disruption to Middle East oil supply keeping international crude prices elevated in the short term, the company said its business should gain support from the US market's relative tariff advantage, gradual ramp-up of new higher-value products, recycled materials, AI applications, and the group's diversified investments.

Buried in 238 pages of targets and inventories are the things nobody puts in a press release: a formal corporate policy on shoe soles, a fish that lives in a fab, a lizard evacuation in Germany, and a workforce that is quietly out-reproducing the rest of Taiwan by a factor of four. Nine small stories from the world's most important chipmaker.