Taiwan has “never made any commitment to a 50-50 split on manufacturing chips, and would not agree to such terms,” Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said this morning, returning from a fifth round of in-person tariff negotiations with the US.
US President Donald Trump’s administration wants Taiwan to adopt a “50-50 split” on semiconductor manufacturing, with half of the chips used in the US to be made domestically, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in an interview with NewsNation on Sunday.
The concept differs from the current investment direction being discussed under negotiations regarding supply chain cooperation, the Cabinet said.
Photo: CNA
As the US expands its investigation into the semiconductor market under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962, paving the way for potential tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is seeking reductions to Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs and preferential treatment related to Section 232, the Executive Yuan said today in a statement.
The White House’s provisional 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods was implemented on Aug. 7, although negotiations remain ongoing.
The tariff negotiation team returned to Taiwan this morning, with the delegation led by Cheng, along with Minister Without Portfolio and Chief Trade Negotiator Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮), who leads the Executive Yuan's Office of Trade Negotiations, and members of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The group held in-person meetings in Washington with the Office of the United States Trade Representative and the US Department of Commerce, with “some progress made,” the Cabinet said.
Once the two sides reach a consensus on tariffs, Section 232 preferential treatment and supply chain cooperation, a concluding meeting would be held to finalize a Taiwan-US trade agreement, the team said.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
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