US president-elect Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico and China would most affect Taiwan’s electronic manufacturing services (EMS) industry, although the impact would be minimal, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today.
Trump during his campaign vowed to sharply increase tariffs on all Chinese imports if re-elected.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Yesterday, he announced plans to levy 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10 percent tariff on products from China, on top of existing tariffs.
The announcement raised concern about its effect on Taiwanese electronic manufacturing companies with factories in Mexico, including Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Wistron Corp, Quanta Computer Inc, Compal Electronics Inc, Inventec Corp and Pegatron Corp.
Kuo today addressed a meeting of the Economics Committee at the Legislative Yuan and responded to questions.
Before the meeting, he told reporters that information had only just become available yesterday about Trump’s proposed tariff hikes.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has not yet consulted expert opinions, but plans to hold joint discussions with industry leaders to find an appropriate response, he said.
Initial estimations predict that the new tariffs would most impact the EMS industry, Kuo said.
EMS refers to companies that design, manufacture, test, distribute and repair electronic components.
However, the majority of EMS infrastructure is located in the US states of Texas and New Mexico, Kuo said.
Industry experts would have to develop new strategies and response measures, but otherwise, the proposed tariffs would not have too great of an effect on the industry, he added.
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