Support from US President Donald Trump's administration for Taiwan remains "very strong" and Taiwan is looking at more purchases from the country, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), to help balance trade, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Taiwan for "taking" US semiconductor business, saying he wants the industry to rebase to the US.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
He has also threatened broad import tariffs on countries that have unbalanced trade with the US, which could affect Taiwan, given the large trade surplus it runs.
Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in Taipei, Wu said the nation has many friends in the new administration, especially in the security and defense sectors.
"The Trump administration support for Taiwan remains very strong," he said. "I think Taiwan is in a good position."
Asked about Trump's comments on chips, Wu said that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the dominant maker of advanced semiconductors, started from scratch.
"We didn't steal anything from anybody. Taiwan has been very honest in doing business with the international community," he said.
Taiwan runs a large trade surplus with the US, which surged 83 percent last year, with the nation's exports to the US hitting a record US$111.4 billion, driven by demand for high-tech products such as semiconductors.
Taiwan is discussing what else it can buy from the US, Wu said.
"If the United States has a very good product Taiwan happens to need, then it will be [among] the items that we will be thinking about," he added.
LNG is one area the government is already considering, especially from Alaska, although most of Taiwan's supplies at present come from Qatar and Australia.
Wu said US LNG was very high quality, but coming from existing suppliers Texas and Louisiana, it took longer to reach Taiwan given it had to go via the Panama Canal.
"If Alaska starts producing LNG in big numbers, that will be a very good time for us to buy more and we are in discussion with Alaska now," he said, without giving details.
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