Taiwan has added 77 items to the list of machine tools restricted from being exported to Russia and Belarus that is set to take effect on March 8 in a bid to prevent the Russian military from using Taiwan’s high-tech products in its war in Ukraine, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday.

Taiwan imposed export controls on a number of high-end machine tools to Russia and Belarus last year and is widening the scope of export restrictions to 77 additional products to stay in line with the tightened export sanctions imposed by the European Union, the US and Japan, an official with the ministry’s International Trade Administration (ITA) said.

The items added to the new export controls list include sophisticated equipment called CNC machine tools, machining centers, lathes and turning machines, milling machines, and grinding machines.

Taiwan’s exports of the 77 items to Russia reached US$45 million last year, accounting for 1.47 per cent of Taiwan’s total exports to Russia, the ITA official said.

With increasing global awareness of the risk posed by weapon proliferation, if Taiwan’s machine tools were found to be exported to Russia for the production of military weapons, this could affect German and Japanese key component manufacturers’ willingness to sell their products to Taiwan and thus impact the upstream and downstream supply chain in the machine tool industry, the official said.

The ministry said it has also requested Taiwanese manufacturers exporting to countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which are considered to have a high risk of reshipping the products, to agree not to redirect shipments to Russia and Belarus.

The Taiwan Machine Tool and Accessory Builder’s Association said that the expanded sanctions against specific exports to Russia are expected to affect the entire industry and it hopes the government will help businesses in the industry to upgrade and transform their techniques and technology.

The association also expressed hopes the government would seek to sign free-trade agreements with trade partners and join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), an Asia-Pacific trade bloc, to allow Taiwanese businesses to enjoy preferential tariffs and help them expand internationally.