Taiwan’s trade negotiation team, led by Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and chief trade negotiator Minister Without Portfolio Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮), has departed for the US for a new round of in-person trade talks that officials say are in the final stages, the Cabinet said yesterday.
The delegation left Taiwan late on Wednesday after coordinating with its US counterparts, the Cabinet’s Taiwan-US trade working group said.
Following the talks, the two sides are expected to announce the substance of any consensus reached, the group said.
Photo: CNA
A formal trade agreement would be signed at a later date, after which the full text would be submitted to Taiwan’s legislature for review, in accordance with legal procedures, it added.
The meetings are to focus on four main objectives, including further lowering tariffs on Taiwanese goods without stacking them on existing most-favored-nation rates and securing “most favorable” treatment under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act for semiconductors, semiconductor-derived products and other items, the working group said.
Other goals include expanding the “Taiwan model” within US supply chains and seeking a more favorable investment environment for Taiwanese firms, while promoting bilateral trade balance and building a strategic partnership in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain, the negotiation team said.
The meetings, the sixth round of in-person trade negotiations between Taiwan and the US, are to be held amid reports that the two sides are close to reaching a trade agreement.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that US tariffs on Taiwanese imports could be reduced to 15 percent from 20 percent, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make additional investments in Arizona, including the construction of at least five new semiconductor plants.
TSMC has declined to comment on whether it would invest more in the US on top of the US$165 billion that it has already pledged.
Taiwan’s chips are not subject to the US tariffs.
Two people familiar with the matter said an announcement on the tariffs deal could come by the end of the month.
The Office of Trade Negotiations on Tuesday said the two sides had already reached broad consensus on relevant issues and were discussing the timing of a wrap-up meeting, after which the main elements of the agreement would be made public.
The new round of negotiations also follows a White House announcement on Wednesday regarding semiconductor tariffs.
Washington imposed a 25 percent tariff on certain AI chips, such as the Nvidia H200, under a new national security order released by the White House.
Addressing that new order, Taiwan said that it has previously held multiple discussions with the US and reached a consensus on preferential tariff treatment for semiconductors and related products.
“After confirming this with the US side during the current consultations, our side will provide a public explanation,” it added, without elaborating.
Additional reporting by Reuters
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS