Taiwan is negotiating with the US for reduced tariffs and a Taiwan model of investing in the US economy, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday.
Lee made the comment at a post-Cabinet meeting news conference hours after Politico reported that US President Donald Trump is accelerating tariff talks with Taiwan, eyeing an investment figure that would fall between South Korea’s US$350 billion and Japan’s US$550 billion.
Tariff exemptions or reductions for semiconductors and chip-related products are necessary for Taiwanese companies to invest in the US, she added.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The Taiwan model would be driven by companies’ international branching strategies, prompting them to plan investments in the United States, to be closer to their clients and boost competitiveness, while the government provides financial and credit guarantee support.
“This means that investment schemes would not be comparable to Japan or South Korea’s deals,” Lee said.
Lee also confirmed that Taipei is seeking to have the 20 percent tariff currently imposed by the U.S. reduced, and ensure that the tariff rate will not be added on top of existing most-favored-nation tariffs.
Taiwan is also working to secure most- favorable-nation treatment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act as Washington conducts a national security investigation into semiconductor imports, she said.
Taipei and Washington are engaged in talks to prepare the groundwork for negotiating over the details an agreement, she said.
Central bank Deputy Governor Yen Tzung-ta (嚴宗大) told lawmakers at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee that the bank had not decided if it would dip into the nation’s foreign currency reserves to facilitate the investments being discussed.
The negotiations are in their early stages and the impact of a potential deal is not yet known to the central bank, Yen said, adding that US dollars account for close to 80 percent of Taiwan’s currency reserves.
There are no plans to alter the structure of the nation’s reserves, or increase the share of cryptocurrency or gold, he said.
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