Taiwan has dispatched a delegation to Washington to discuss potential tariffs with US President Donald Trump and has made preparations in case they are imposed, according to Economic Minister Kuo Jyh-huei on Saturday.
Technology companies in Taiwan, where the world’s largest contract chip maker and chip supplier TSMC is based, must consider the possibility of Trump making good on his threats to impose tariffs on imported chips, following his accusation in the last election that Taiwan had stolen the American semiconductor industry.
Trump announced on Friday that he will announce tariffs on numerous economies, including Taiwan, by Monday or Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of his efforts to reshape global trade relationships to benefit the US.
In an interview with journalists in Taipei, Kuo said that the ministry has made preparations for potential US tariffs, but declined to provide further details.
Regarding chip tariffs, Kuo stated that a deputy minister and a department director have been sent to Washington and they will provide as many good explanations as possible to Trump’s advisors about Taiwan’s chip industry without going into specifics. Taiwan has repeatedly emphasized that its chip industry and US companies have a “win-win” cooperation.
However, Taiwan has a significant trade surplus with the US, which surged by 83 percent last year. The island’s exports to the US reached a record high of $111.4 billion, driven by the demand for high-tech products such as semiconductors.
Kuo suggested that Taiwan could follow Japan’s example and import more energy from the US. Japan is set to begin importing a record amount of American liquefied natural gas, Trump announced on Friday after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Australia and Qatar are currently Taiwan’s main LNG suppliers.