Taiwan hopes to secure a competitive tariff rate with the US by leveraging Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) US$165 billion investment in the US, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday.
Compared with Japan and South Korea, Taiwan could secure a more favorable tariff rate due to TSMC’s investment, Kuo told a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei.
The US on July 7 announced a 25 percent tariff on Japan and South Korea, which is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1.
Photo: CNA
Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) is leading a delegation to the US this week for a fourth round of tariff negotiations, Kuo said, adding that the ministry hopes the delegation could secure a rate favorable to local businesses and better than those offered to competitors.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) urged the ministry to refute allegations that the government had received a 32 percent US tariff notice, but is withholding information until after recall elections.
Kuo agreed, saying he had no idea where the allegations originated.
The government would strive to secure a better rate, Kuo said, adding that the US has suggested that the deadline could be extended if no deal is reached.
It is important to understand US President Donald Trump’s negotiation style, he said.
Taiwanese products, particularly semiconductors, which are impacted by the investigation launched by the US under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act, are vital to the US, Kuo said.
The US has high expectations for Taiwan’s export controls and border protection in the tariff negotiations, and is closely watching legislative debates over proposed cuts to defense and coast guard budgets, he said.
The ministry is also considering increasing natural gas imports from Alaska, as US investment and Trump’s “Make America Great Again” motto remain key themes in the tariff negotiations, he added.
“As there is still much to be invested, we must weigh whether the investment is necessary and whether it is a long-term commitment or a short-term transaction. I believe our delegation understands that clearly,” Kuo said.
Natural gas from the US made up about 10 percent of Taiwan’s total energy imports, and the ministry aims to raise that to 20 to 30 percent, he said in April, adding that Taiwan also plans to invest about NT$200 billion (US$6.8 billion) in advanced US technologies over 10 years.
SECOND-RATE: Models distilled from US products do not perform the same as the original and undo measures that ensure the systems are neutral, the US’ cable said The US Department of State has ordered a global push to bring attention to what it said are widespread efforts by Chinese companies, including artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek (深度求索), to steal intellectual property from US AI labs, according to a diplomatic cable. The cable, dated Friday and sent to diplomatic and consular posts around the world, instructs diplomatic staff to speak to their foreign counterparts about “concerns over adversaries’ extraction and distillation of US AI models.” Distillation is the process of training smaller AI models using output from larger, more expensive ones to lower the costs of training a powerful new
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) have repeatedly hit new highs, but an equity analyst said the stock’s valuation remains within a reasonable range and any pullback would likely be technical. The contract chipmaker’s historical price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has ranged between 20 and 30, Cathay Futures Consultant Co (國泰證期) analyst Tsai Ming-han (蔡明翰) told Central News Agency. With market consensus projecting that TSMC would post earnings per share of about NT$100 (US$3.17) this year, supported by strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and the stock currently trading at a P/E ratio of below 25, Tsai said the valuation
The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has triggered a seismic reshuffling of global equity markets, with Taiwan and South Korea muscling past European nations one by one. With its stock market now valued at nearly US$4.3 trillion, Taiwan surpassed the UK, Europe’s biggest market, earlier this month, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. South Korea is about US$140 billion away from doing the same. The tech-heavy Asian markets have shot past Germany and France in the past seven months. The shift is largely down to massive gains in shares of three companies that provide essential hardware for AI: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電),
The US Department of Commerce last week ordered multiple chip equipment companies to halt shipments of certain tools to China’s second-largest chipmaker, Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd (華虹半導體), its latest action to slow the country’s development of advanced chips, two people familiar with the matter said. The department sent letters to at least a handful of companies informing them of restrictions on tools and other materials destined for two Hua Hong facilities US officials believe make China’s most sophisticated chips, the people said. Top US chip equipment companies Lam Research Corp, Applied Materials Inc and KLA Corp, each of which has significant
RSS