Taiwan seeks US assurances tariff deal terms will not change

TAIPEI - Taiwan will 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, Taiwan Vice-Premier Cheng Li-chiun said on Feb 24.

Mr Trump on Feb 23

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 per cent from 20 per cent.

Under January’s deal, Taiwan companies will invest US$250 billion (S$317 billion) to boost production of semiconductors, energy and artificial intelligence in the US, while Taiwan will also guarantee an additional US$250 billion in credit to facilitate further investment.

The second deal, reached in February that confirmed

the tariff cut to 15 per cent

, commits Taiwan to a schedule for eliminating or lowering tariffs on nearly all US goods and to significantly boost purchases of US goods like natural gas.

Ms Cheng, who led the talks with the US, said the government has been in touch already with Washington, though 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 January’s Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, or ART.

This is not a reopening of negotiations, and Taiwan will seek to actively engage with the US side to understand how Taiwanese companies will continue to receive the best treatment possible under that deal even as the US looks at other tariffs, Ms 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 will also not change, but Taiwan’s high trade surplus with the US is a risk going forward, Ms Cheng added. REUTERS