Taiwan's Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs is scheduled to visit the United States soon in preparation for the possibility of U.S. President Donald Trump announcing tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors, Taiwan media including China Times reported on the 9th.
At a press conference the previous day, Guo Zhuhui, Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs, said that an economic delegation led by Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Zhang Yuanluo plans to visit Washington DC next week to meet with U.S. government officials. He emphasized that Zhang will particularly explain Taiwan's position regarding allegations of intellectual property theft of U.S. semiconductor technology during this visit.
Minister Guo stated, "Taiwan did not steal U.S. semiconductor technology," noting that Taiwan originally paid intellectual property (IP) fees when introducing integrated circuit (IC) technology from the U.S. RCA. He added that they are preparing for all possibilities related to the Trump administration's potential tariff imposition.
As Taiwan, home to the world's largest foundry companies such as TSMC, watches closely the possibility of tariffs being imposed on the semiconductor sector by the Trump administration, Zhu Daxing, Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Chamber of Commerce and Industry Federation (CACCI), predicted that if Taiwan is included in the list for additional tariffs, it is highly likely that Taiwan will have to pay tariffs at the same rate as industrial competitors like South Korea and Japan. He also said that if tariffs are imposed only on Taiwan, it will be necessary to accelerate production line relocation and expand investment within the United States.
Earlier, on the 1st, President Trump signed an executive order imposing general tariffs on neighboring countries Mexico and Canada, as well as on China, a global competitor in the race for global dominance, signaling the start of a global tariff war.
Subsequently, tariffs on Mexico and Canada were deferred for one month, but an additional 10% tariff was imposed on China, and announcements of 'reciprocal tariffs' against multiple countries are expected soon.
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