The government here has said it held its first tariff discussions with the United States and expected more talks to build “strong and stable” trade ties.
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said Friday the island was on “the first negotiating list of the US government” as he seeks to shield its exporters from a 32% tariff.
US President Donald Trump this week postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of dollars were wiped off global markets.
Trump has maintained a 10% blanket duty on most countries, but paused plans for steeper measures on others, except for those on China.
Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said in a statement that its officials held a video conference on Friday with “relevant US officials” without identifying them.
The two sides “exchanged views on Taiwan-US reciprocal tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, and a number of other economic and trade issues including export controls,” the statement said.
“Both sides look forward to conducting follow-up negotiations ... in the near future and jointly building a strong and stable economic and trade relationship.”
Taiwan currently faces a 10% tariff and Lai said its talks would seek to strike a deal with Washington to bring that down to zero.
Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States is the seventh highest of any country, reaching US$73.9bil in 2024.
Around 60% of its exports to the United States are information and communications technology products, including semiconductors.
Chips were excluded from Trump’s new tariffs. — AFP
