Taiwan is to work with the US to ensure the beneficial terms it has already agreed do not change despite ructions following the US Supreme Court striking down US President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said today.
Trump yesterday warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the US, saying that he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws.
Taiwan has struck two deals with the US to lower the tariffs on its exports to the country to 15 percent from 20 percent.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Under last month's deal, Taiwan companies are to invest US$250 billion to boost production of semiconductors, energy and artificial intelligence in the US, while Taiwan would also guarantee an additional US$250 billion in credit to facilitate further investment.
The second deal, reached this month that confirmed the tariff cut to 15 percent, commits Taiwan to a schedule for eliminating or lowering tariffs on nearly all US goods and to significantly boost purchases of US goods such as natural gas.
Cheng, who led the talks with the US, said the government has been in touch already with Washington, although did not say with whom.
"I think our contacts so far have also been positive. The US side understands that this is an agreement that benefits both sides. I believe we can achieve this objective, and we are confident that we can do so," she told reporters, referring to last month's Agreement on Reciprocal Trade.
This is not a reopening of negotiations, and Taiwan would seek to actively engage with the US to understand how Taiwanese companies would continue to receive the best treatment possible under that deal, even as the US looks at other tariffs, Cheng added.
Countries that have already signed agreements with the US should have a "relatively advantageous foundation when facing any future alternative tools the US might adopt through new legal avenues," she said.
Preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan's semiconductor exports already agreed with the US would also not change, but Taiwan's high trade surplus with the US is a risk going forward, Cheng added.
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