Wed, Jun 10, 2026 page2

• Taiwan can help build non-China rare earth supply chains: expert

  • By Hollie Younger / Staff writer, with CNA
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  As China weaponizes its global dominance in critical material supply chains, more countries should look to Taiwan’s raw earth refining technology to create non-red supply chains, Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said yesterday during a forum discussion with the Brookings Institution.

  The Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Washington-based think tank and the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry yesterday hosted a webinar titled “New Frontiers in the Trade-economic Security Nexus in Asia.”

  Panelists discussed how US President Donald Trump’s administration has inserted economic security goals in US trade policy and the impact on its partners in Taiwan, Japan and Southeast Asia.

  

  A supervisor at MP Materials displays crushed ore before it is sent to the mill at the firm's rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California, on Jan. 30, 2020.

  Photo: Reuters

  Hsu, who is also a senior fellow at the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation, said that the US is already aware that Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute has developed rare earth technologies, although other nations have yet to take hold of the opportunity.

  Critical minerals should not be politicized, and instead should be opened to any nations that can contribute to the creation of a non-China supply chain, she said.

  It should be a priority for countries to cooperate and bring together technology, capital, human resources and natural resources to produce a stable, secure supply of critical minerals separate from China, she said.

  “We don’t have much time left,” as China uses its dominance in rare minerals as a “very, very important weapon,” she said.

  Taiwan is looking to purchase rare earths from the US, and is also in talks with Australia and Canada to strengthen global rare earth supply chain security, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said earlier this year.

  Moreover, Taiwan plans to build a pilot-scale rare earth production line within three years that could meet about half of domestic demand, he said.

  As Taiwan lacks significant reserves of rare earth minerals, cooperation with the US in the mining and refining of critical minerals and technologies for recycling electronic waste would be vital to ensuring supply chain security, he added.

  Yesterday’s webinar also focused on the impact of Trump’s trade policies on Taiwan.

  Earlier this year, Taiwan and the US signed the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade and a memorandum of understanding on economic and investment cooperation, although the agreements are still pending legislative review, Hsu said.

  Those agreements would affect Taiwan’s exports, imports, investments and trade policies, she said.

  Lower tariff rates on Taiwanese export products such as traditional industrial goods, textiles and auto parts would help boost competitiveness, although these products only account for about 20 percent of Taiwan’s total exports to the US, she said.

  The remaining 80 percent are exempt under Section 232 tariffs or other policies, she added.

  Meanwhile, opening Taiwan’s import market to US industrial and agricultural products with zero tariffs may have wider-reaching impacts yet to be seen on Taiwan’s farmers, food security and biodiversity, she said.

  In terms of investments, Taiwan has pledged US$250 billion in private investment and US$250 billion in government-backed credit guarantees to the US.

  However, Trump’s plan to harness the most advanced technology in Taiwan, such as 2-nanometer microchips, and relocate at least 40 percent of the most advanced chipmaking capacity to the US has raised concerns in Taiwan, she said.

  Finally, Taiwan’s alignment with US policy on controlling trade with China may force it to diversify markets, as currently China and Hong Kong make up 25 to 30 percent of Taiwan’s export market, she said.

  For Taiwan, it is particularly difficult to find new markets and develop bilateral and regional trade agreements, she said.

  US trade agreements in Southeast Asia are also presenting challenges for Taiwanese investment in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, she added.

  Taiwan’s view on Trump’s tariffs and economic policies remains divided, although the real debate would begin when the Executive Yuan sends the agreements to the legislature for approval, Hsu said.
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