Taiwan says first tariff talks held with US

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s government said Saturday (Apr 12) it held first tariff discussions with the United States and expected more talks to build “strong and stable” trade ties.

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said Friday the island was on “the first negotiating list of the US government” as he seeks to shield its exporters from a 32 per cent tariff.

US President Donald Trump this week postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of dollars were wiped off global markets.

Trump has maintained a 10 per cent blanket duty on most countries, but paused plans for steeper measures on others, except China.

Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said in a statement that its officials held a video conference on Friday with “relevant US officials” without identifying them.

The two sides “exchanged views on Taiwan-US reciprocal tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, and a number of other economic and trade issues including export controls”, the statement said.

“Both sides look forward to conducting follow-up negotiations… in the near future and jointly building a strong and stable economic and trade relationship.”

Taiwan currently faces a 10 per cent tariff and Lai said its talks would seek to strike a deal with Washington to bring that down to zero.

Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States is the seventh highest of any country, reaching US$73.9 billion in 2024.

Around 60 per cent of its exports to the United States are information and communications technology products, including semiconductors.

Chips were excluded from Trump’s new tariffs.