Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week.
The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US.
Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them.
Photo: CNA
Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US was the sixth-largest in the world, behind China, Mexico, Vietnam, Ireland and Germany, central bank data showed.
Asked about the possibility of Taiwan being included in the list, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Cynthia Kiang (江文若) told lawmakers that the government was taking steps to reduce the trade imbalance, including drawing up a list of potential goods that could be purchased from the US.
For example, state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) last week signed a letter of intent to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Alaska Gasline Development Corp and invest in its Alaska LNG project, Kiang said.
Taiwan is also considering increasing oil imports from the US in a bid to boost energy cooperation and enhance natural gas supply stability, she added.
However, Taiwan’s purchasing targets and the status of its negotiations with the US government cannot be made public for the time being, Kiang said.
Chuang and Kiang made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday, a day after the central bank in a report defended Taiwan’s trade and currency record, saying that the high current account surplus was a structural problem and that Washington understood that.
Taiwan’s trade surplus with the US surged 83 percent last year compared with 2023, with exports to the US hitting a record US$111.4 billion, up 46.1 percent year-on-year, driven by demand for high-tech products such as semiconductors, a sector dominated by Taiwan.
Asked if tariffs on vehicles would be reduced, given that Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on auto imports, Kiang said a specially created trade task force had “already drafted relevant plans,” while Chuang said that import tariffs on health supplements and other products would be reduced.
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
The Taipei International Cycle Show (Taipei Cycle) yesterday opened at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, with the event’s organizer expecting a steady recovery in the industry this year following a tough last year. This year, 980 companies from 35 countries are participating in the annual bicycle trade show, showcasing technological breakthroughs and market development trends of the bicycle industry at 3,600 booths, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said in a statement. Under the theme “Ride the Revolution,” the exhibition has attracted more than 3,500 international buyers from 80 countries to preregister for the four-day event, which is expected to