Taiwan is continuing efforts to secure a trade deal with the US, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) said on Thursday, even after a court blocked many of the tariffs that US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose on other countries.
While the ruling might prompt some countries to adopt a “wait and see” approach, Taiwan remains committed to negotiations, Chen said in an interview.
“We are glad to see that there are some debates among different branches of government in the US,” he said. “That will make everything more reasonable and more acceptable.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“We are serious about our negotiations and we are serious to have a fair trade with the US,” he added.
Trump’s use of tariff threats to pressure other countries into cutting new trade deals was thrown into turmoil after a court said the US president exceeded his authority, significantly weakening his bargaining power at least temporarily.
An appeals court offered Trump a temporary reprieve from the ruling, but the saga could delay negotiations with other trading partners that began after Trump announced a 90-day pause on the steep tariffs that were rolled out early last month.
If left intact, the US would impose a 32 percent levy on imports from Taiwan.
President William Lai (賴清德) has sought to downplay any tensions while highlighting the strength of relations with the US.
He expressed willingness to increase imports from the US, including energy, agricultural and military goods, to lower the trade imbalance.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has said preparations for a second round of talks were under way.
Chen said he remains confident that the government would reach a deal before the US pause is set to lift, and would push for Washington to drop Taiwan’s tariffs “as low as possible.”
As a strong US ally, Taiwan should push for lower rates than those on others, he added.
“We want to be the special someone,” Chen said, adding that if other countries finalize the tariff at 10 percent, “being special means lower than 10 percent.”
Taiwan has some room to lower tariffs on some US goods such as automobiles, which are subject to a 17.5 percent levy, Chen said.
“I hope, as a consumer and a fan of the American car, we can have a lower tariff on US cars,” he said.
The auto sector is not a strategic one for Taiwan and should not hinder talks with Washington, he added.
“I’m very optimistic about the negotiation between the US and Taiwan, especially when it comes to autos,” he said.
Taiwan would open its market to more US agricultural products, Chen said.
In addition to beef and pork, the government is reviewing a potential list of other goods, he said.
Before the Trump administration announced the levies, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said that it would invest an additional US$100 billion in the US.
However, potential US tariffs on chip imports could complicate Taiwanese investments, Chen said.
Such levies would affect companies’ cash flows, hurting their ability to invest, he said.
Plans for a sovereign wealth fund announced by Lai last week provided an opportunity for the nation to invest globally, “especially with our close friend and our close trading partners, the US included,” he said.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS