While global markets have been dramatically disturbed by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on countries that have large trade surpluses with the US, a new trade war between the US and China — the two largest economies — has been ignited, which could lead to a reshaping of the global economic order and geopolitical landscape.
China has long been the US’ most unbalanced trading partner. Among the 185 countries facing US tariffs, China has been widely considered a major target of the policy.
According to Chinese custom statistics, the US-China trade in 2024 was US$688.28 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. China’s exports to the US were US$524.656 billion, an increase of 4.9% from previous year; but China’s imports from the US were US$163.624 billion, a decrease of 0.1% .
Since returning to the presidential office in January, Trump has raised the tariff on Chinese goods five times: starting with two rounds of 10 percent each, followed by an additional 34 percent last week, another 50 percent when China imposed counter-tariffs, and then raising the cumulative rate to 125 percent on Wednesday, while granting a 90-day pause on tariffs to other countries seeking negotiations based on a universal 10 percent as a starting point.
The Chinese government has declared that it would “fight to the end” in the renewed trade war with US. It has hit back by raising a retaliatory tariff on US products from 34 percent to 84 percent, as well as banning a dozen US companies from doing business in China.
Although the escalating trading conflict would further devastate its struggling economy, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) reluctance to negotiate with the US on the issue stems from the country’s nationalism, which views the US as its ultimate rival that could threaten its global expansionism and even subvert the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s grip on power.
It could also be a move demonstrating China’s intention to win over anti-US forces to alter the global economic environment and supplant the US’ leading position, adding to growing international concern that Trump’s foreign policy, rooted in isolation and economic protectionism, could tilt the global balance of power in China’s favor and undermine the US’ global leadership. This concern is compounded by the US’ break with democratic allies and its own domestic risk of an economic slowdown and political upheaval.
The new US tariffs and the escalating Sino-US trade war would likely gravely impact Taiwan, not only economically, but also politically. While Taiwan’s export-driven economy could weather the US tariffs, the changing geopolitical situation could weaken the US’ “pivot to Asia.” A weakened US — and less support for Taiwan’s defense — could encourage China to attempt to take Taiwan by force.
Responding to the economic pressure, the government has announced a preliminary NT$88 billion (US$2.68 billion) in aid to assist businesses most affected by the US tariffs, President William Lai (賴清德) has pledged that Taiwan would not adopt retaliatory tariffs and are pursuing talks with the US, hoping that negotiations could eliminate tariffs on both sides and develop into a comprehensive cooperation in facing China.
More importantly, Taiwan should prioritize military procurement and the supply of material vital in the event of conflict, such as energy resources and defense technologies. This would not only reduce the Taiwan-US trade imbalance, but would also bolster the country’s defense and national security. In the long term, Taiwan must speed up industrial upgrades and market diversification to enhance its economic competitiveness and secure its role in global “non-red” supply chains.
Facing global unrest and the transformation into a multipolar world, Taiwan must deepen multilateral relations with countries that hold shared values and the potential to play leading roles in a divided global arena, such as the EU states, Japan, India and Australia.
As the world is living through Trumpian turbulence, Taiwan needs new strategies to seek the silver lining amid global and regional crises.
You wish every Taiwanese spoke English like I do. I was not born an anglophone, yet I am paid to write and speak in English. It is my working language and my primary idiom in private. I am more than bilingual: I think in English; it is my language now. Can you guess how many native English speakers I had as teachers in my entire life? Zero. I only lived in an English-speaking country, Australia, in my 30s, and it was because I was already fluent that I was able to live and pursue a career. English became my main language during adulthood
The international women’s soccer match between Taiwan and New Zealand at the Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium, scheduled for Tuesday last week, was canceled at the last minute amid safety concerns over poor field conditions raised by the visiting team. The Football Ferns, as New Zealand’s women’s soccer team are known, had arrived in Taiwan one week earlier to prepare and soon raised their concerns. Efforts were made to improve the field, but the replacement patches of grass could not grow fast enough. The Football Ferns canceled the closed-door training match and then days later, the main event against Team Taiwan. The safety
There are moments in history when America has turned its back on its principles and withdrawn from past commitments in service of higher goals. For example, US-Soviet Cold War competition compelled America to make a range of deals with unsavory and undemocratic figures across Latin America and Africa in service of geostrategic aims. The United States overlooked mass atrocities against the Bengali population in modern-day Bangladesh in the early 1970s in service of its tilt toward Pakistan, a relationship the Nixon administration deemed critical to its larger aims in developing relations with China. Then, of course, America switched diplomatic recognition
The National Immigration Agency on Tuesday said it had notified some naturalized citizens from China that they still had to renounce their People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizenship. They must provide proof that they have canceled their household registration in China within three months of the receipt of the notice. If they do not, the agency said it would cancel their household registration in Taiwan. Chinese are required to give up their PRC citizenship and household registration to become Republic of China (ROC) nationals, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. He was referring to Article 9-1 of the Act
RSS