Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) has scheduled a meeting this week with the mayors of three other municipalities in northern Taiwan to discuss response measures to the tariffs recently announced by US President Donald Trump, a source said.
Chiang made phone calls yesterday afternoon to New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) and Taoyuan Mayor Simon Chang (張善政) to arrange a meeting during the week, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The four mayors have already reached a consensus to jointly buffer the impact of the US' 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese imports, which takes effect on Wednesday, and they are expected to map out support measures for their region's primary industries, the source said.
Chiang has also launched an online platform to collect opinions from small and medium-sized enterprises, after Trump announced the new tariffs on Thursday last week, the source said.
Chiang held "hectic meetings" with the heads of several city government bureaus during the Tomb Sweeping holiday this weekend, the source said.
In a similar move, Chang has contacted the local government heads of Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County and Miaoli County — three municipalities that make up a major hub in Taiwan's technology sector — to discuss coordinated responses, the Taoyuan City Government said in a statement yesterday evening.
According to the Taoyuan Department of Economic Development, the heads of key industry associations and firms have been invited to a roundtable discussion with the city government on Thursday.
These developments are part of a series of broader efforts by local government leaders to mitigate the pressure caused by the Trump administration's trade policies, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday accused President William Lai (賴清德) of taking an "overly naive" approach to the tariff issue.
None of the seven city and county governments involved are led by the Democratic Progressive Party.
In a departure from the responses by other economies such as the EU and China, Lai said yesterday that Taiwan would not take any retaliatory actions against the US tariffs.
Lai said that his administration had established a negotiation team, led by Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), to launch formal talks with the US.
The negotiations "can start with a goal of 'zero tariffs,' modeled after the USMCA [US-Mexico-Canada Agreement]," he said.
In an interview with CBS News yesterday, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said "there is no postponing" the newly announced tariffs, regardless of ongoing negotiations.
Today, Taiwan's stock market plunged more than 2,000 points at the opening bell and soon fell below the 20,000 mark.
The most heavily weighted stock on the local market, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), plummeted to NT$848 — its limit-down price — as soon as the market opened.
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