The impact of US President Donald Trump’s 32-percent tax on goods from Taiwan, which was announced yesterday and is to be implemented next Wednesday, would “exceed expectations,” the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC) said in a statement this morning.
The CNIAC warned that the tariffs would pose significant challenges for Taiwan’s export-driven economy and recommended five immediate countermeasures.
The new tariff policy, announced yesterday, aims to “address the injustices of global trade, reshore manufacturing and drive economic growth for the American people," the White House said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Trump would impose "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, with higher rates for countries with larger trade surpluses, including a tariff of 34 percent imposed on China and a 24-percent tariff for Japan.
The reciprocal tariffs do not include semiconductors, energy, pharmaceuticals and "certain minerals that are not available in the United States," according to a White House fact sheet.
Trump is, however, planning separate tariffs to target semiconductors, a White House official said.
The CNAIC suggested immediately activating crisis response measures, conducting a comprehensive review of the potential impacts and strengthening communication with the US.
It further proposed negotiating to lower the tariffs and providing tax relief and financial assistance to affected industries in Taiwan.
Taiwan was the US’ seventh-largest trading partner last year, according to an Executive Yuan trade report.
Taiwan plays a critical and strategic role in the US economy, producing 90 percent of the world’s advanced semiconductors, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan (AmCham) said in a news release this morning.
US industries rely heavily on Taiwan for high-value, capital-intensive products that cannot be mass-produced elsewhere, such as semiconductors, information and communication technology (ICT) and precision machinery, AmCham said.
Moreover, Taiwan’s microchips significantly impact global supply chains and are essential to US industries from technology to cars; aerospace engineering to national defense, it said.
As both sides of the Pacific are facing an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, the US and Taiwan should seek to strengthen existing economic and trade relations, it said.
In response to shifting global trends and industries, AmCham called for Washington and Taipei officials to continue to promote exchange and cooperation, to support industrial development, market stability, supply chain security and regional peace.
Furthermore, US exports to Taiwan have almost no domestic competition, with imported goods including agricultural products, aircraft and industrial machinery, AmCham said.
US-Taiwan investments have also been trending upwards, with Taiwan's cumulative direct investment in the US reaching US$17.1 billion in 2022, it added.
In the first 10 months of 2024, investments reached US$14 billion, accounting for 30.8 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound investments, it said.
Taiwan is also a critical source of capital in US financial markets, holding approximately US$256 billion in US Treasury securities as of January last year, ranking among the top ten foreign holders, it added.
Taiwan therefore stabilizes the US financial markets and plays an important role in the flow of US capital, it said.
Through continued investment in the US economy, Taiwanese businesses have contributed significantly to creating local jobs and stabilizing financial markets in the US, while making a significant contribution to supply chain resilience, it said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS