US President Donald Trump is now “accelerating negotiations with Taiwan” regarding tariffs, eyeing an investment figure between that agreed by South Korea and Japan, US media outlet Politico reported yesterday.
Taiwan is hoping to secure a final deal by the end of the month if the US government shutdown ends soon, Politico quoted an official familiar with the trade talks as saying.
Taipei and Washington are continuing to negotiate a deal in which Taiwan invests billions of US dollars in the US, as was agreed by South Korea and Japan, the article said.
Photo: Reuters
The figure could be “midway between South Korea’s US$350 billion and Japan’s US$550 billion,” which secured both nations a 15 percent tariff rate, the official was quoted as saying.
In July, it was reported that Taipei was considering a US$300 to US$400 billion investment to secure more favorable tariff terms.
The Trump administration may be attempting to secure more tariff deals before they could be axed in a US Supreme Court ruling expected by the end of the year, the article said.
The US Supreme Court justices last week questioned Trump’s authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
However, Trump could proceed with tariffs under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Politico said.
Smaller nations “expect talks with the administration to progress more quickly as the Supreme Court weighs the limits of Trump’s tariff powers,” the report said.
Taiwan's exports to the US are currently subject to a “temporary” 20 percent tariff, while a separate deal for semiconductors, electronics, and information and communication technology remains under negotiation, President William Lai (賴清德) said in July.
A final deal remains “just steps away,” he said on Monday.
Taiwan is seeking more favorable tariffs for semiconductors under the WTO’s “most favored nation” principle and lower, non-cumulative export tariffs.
It has devised the “Taiwan model,” separate from those of Japan and South Korea, that would allow corporate owners to choose the industries in which they wish to invest, and the government then invests based on those choices, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said last month.
However, Taipei’s “bigger concern” is the possibility that an ongoing investigation by the US Department of Commerce under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act could impose new tariffs on Taiwan's leading semiconductor industry, Politico said.
The article also quoted another unidentified official as being “hesitant to predict” when the US and Taiwan would reach a final negotiation, citing Trump’s “track record of last minute reversals on trade deals.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
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
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS