Taiwan’s trade negotiators were ‘working around the clock’ to strike a tariff deal with the United States, the island’s vice president said Friday, two weeks before Washington’s deadline.
Donald Trump has given his trade partners until August 1 to reach an agreement with the White House or be hit with his threatened levies.
The US president has so far only announced deals with Indonesia, Britain and Vietnam, alongside an agreement to temporarily lower tit-for-tat tolls with China.
Taiwan faces a 32 percent tax and possible duties on semiconductor chips, which are a key driver of the island’s economy.
‘Our negotiators are literally working around the clock to strive to reach an agreement on reciprocal tariffs,’ Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim told journalists in Taipei.
‘We are certainly aiming to reach an arrangement by August 1.’
Trump in April imposed a 10 percent tariff on almost all US trading partners, while announcing plans to eventually hike this level for dozens of countries.
But days before the steeper duties were due to take effect on July 9, he pushed the deadline back to August 1.
Hsiao said Friday that Taipei wanted a trade deal with Washington that ‘will benefit both sides’.
‘The United States is indeed a very important trade partner for Taiwan,’ Hsiao said.
Washington also ‘needs Taiwan in supporting resilient supply chains, in supporting manufacturing and some high-end technologies’.
‘We have really counted on each other in recent years in developing our technologies, our economies and growth and prosperity,’ Hsiao said.
Taiwan is a global powerhouse in chip manufacturing and Trump has previously accused the island of stealing the US semiconductor industry.
Around 60 percent of Taiwan’s exports to the United States are information and communications technology, which includes chips.
To avoid Trump’s punitive tariffs, Taipei has pledged to increase investment in the United States, buy more of its energy and increase its own defence spending.
