Taiwan eyes zero tariffs with US, pledges more investment

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Sunday offered zero tariffs as the basis for talks with the United States, pledging to remove trade barriers rather than imposing reciprocal measures.

Ching-te also promised that Taiwan's companies will raise their US investments.

Recall that President Donald Trump announced across-the-board import tariffs on Wednesday, with much higher duties for dozens of trading partners, including Taiwan, which runs a large trade surplus with the US and faces a 32% duty on its products.

DAILY POST reports that the US tariffs, however, do not apply to semiconductors, a major Taiwanese export.

The Taiwanese president, in a video message released by his office after meeting executives from small and medium-sized companies at his residence, said given Taiwan's dependence on trade, the economy would inevitably have a hard time dealing with the tariffs.

He expressed hopes that the impact could be minimised.

“Tariff negotiations can start with ‘zero tariffs' between Taiwan and the United States, with reference to the U.S.-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement,” Lai said.

According to him, Taiwan has no plans to take tariff retaliation, and there will be no change in Taiwanese companies' investment commitments to the United States as long as they are in Taiwan's interest.

Kai said that Taiwan's cabinet is considering what large-scale agricultural, industrial and energy purchases to make from the United States, while the defence ministry has already put forward its weapons purchase plans.

He reiterated that non-tariff trade barriers are an indicator for the US to assess the fairness of trade, stressing that Taiwan would proactively resolve non-tariff trade barriers that have existed for many years to make trade negotiations with the US smoother.

DAILY POST reports that the US is Taiwan's most important international backer and main source of arms, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.

Taiwan has faced stepped-up military and political pressure from its giant neighbour China, which views the democratically governed island as Chinese territory, despite the objections of the government in Taipei.

Recall that shortly before Trump's tariff announcement, China announced the end of its latest round of war games around Taiwan.