WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden's top economic adviser, Mr Brian Deese, has sought the Taiwanese government's help in resolving a global semiconductor shortage that is idling American car manufacturing plants, according to a letter reviewed by Bloomberg News.

In the letter, Mr Deese thanked Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua for her personal engagement on the microchips shortage and relayed concerns from US automotive companies.

Top White House officials are engaged in trying to resolve the shortage, which has presented an early challenge to Mr Biden's administration.

Mr Deese, director of the National Economic Council, as well as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan are personally involved in the effort to address bottlenecks in car companies' supply chains, a White House spokesman said.

The spokesman asked not to be identified by name because the talks have been private.

Taiwan is home to the largest semiconductor manufacturing industry in the world.

It relies on US weapons to defend itself against China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force if Taipei moves towards formal independence.

The Biden administration has also asked US embassies around the world to identify how foreign countries and companies that produce chips can help address the global shortage and to map the steps taken to date, the spokesman added.

The formal outreach to Taiwan follows meetings between Mr Deese and Mr Sullivan and US car companies and their suppliers.

The industry is leaning on the White House to pressure foreign chipmakers and their governments to allocate supplies to the US.

"We think those are reasonable things for the government to ask," said Mr Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which lobbies for Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles).

"This is going to be a problem for the first half of the year," he added.

BLOOMBERG