Taipei, April 28 (CNA) The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) on Monday said Taiwan should seek a tariff exemption for its information and communications technology (ICT) products during negotiations with the United States.
Speaking at a forum on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, CIER President Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) urged the government to seek a tariff exemption for Taiwan’s electronics supply chain, noting that about 70 percent of the country’s exports to the U.S. are ICT products.
The impact of tariffs on Taiwan’s ICT industry could be enormous, Lien said, as it would not be easy for Taiwanese suppliers to relocate production to the U.S. market anytime soon, as Trump intended.
On April 2, Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs on countries with large trade surpluses with the U.S., including Taiwan, which faced a blanket 32 percent import duty. A 90-day pause was announced on April 9.
On April 11, Washington and Taipei held their first meeting, with Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations saying that tariffs, trade barriers and export controls were discussed.
President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) described the process of the first round of talks as “smooth.” The Executive Yuan said it expected another round of negotiations will begin soon.
CIER predicted Taiwan’s economic growth could slow to 1.66 percent in 2025, compared to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics’ (DGBAS) forecast of 3.14 percent in late February.
Taiwan’s economy grew 4.59 percent in 2024, according to a preliminary reading by the DGBAS.
Lien said it would not be wise for Taiwan to take tough action in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs, given that Taiwan’s economy is much smaller than that of the U.S.
He said he expected Trump to set a reciprocal tariff of 15-20 percent on goods made in Taiwan.
Yang Shu-fei (楊書菲), deputy head of CIER’s Regional Development Study Center, said at the forum that Taiwan could help the U.S. rebuild its manufacturing sector by sharing its experience in developing science parks and industrial zones.
Yang said such parks and zones could create jobs and upgrade manufacturing in the U.S., while Washington could use its roughly 300 free trade zones to trade goods made by Taiwanese manufacturers and help reduce its trade deficit.
According to CIER, the U.S.-Taiwan trade deficit rose from US$47.8 billion to US$73.9 billion in 2024, driven by a surge in U.S. imports.
