Economics minister upbeat about Taiwan's future despite Trump tariff threats

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) Economics Minister Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) said Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's mooted 10 percent tariff on all U.S. imports will have a limited effect on Taiwan.

However, Trump's proposed 60 percent levy on Chinese-made products will have a greater impact on Taiwanese firms operating in China, according to Kuo.

Regarding Trump's statement that Taiwan should pay "protection fees" and its possible implications on U.S. subsidies for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Kuo said he believed that the job opportunities offered by TSMC's plants should ensure the U.S. CHIPS Act remains unrepealed.

In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan released on Oct. 26, Trump described the CHIPS Act as "so bad," adding that the U.S. had "put up billions of dollars for rich companies to come [when] all you had to do was charge them tariffs."

Later in the same interview, Trump asserted that Taiwan "stole our chip business," and also took aim at Taiwanese contract manufacturing giant Hon Hai's China-based operations.

"Some of our phones are made in places like Foxconn [Hon Hai's name on the global market] where they have nets around the building to keep people from jumping off the roof because they have so many suicides," Trump said.

Also read: Trump's remarks about Taiwan no cause for alarm: Minister

While Kuo agreed with media speculation that Trump's election win may push more Taiwanese businesses in China to return to Taiwan, he said he had policies planned to assist supply chains with overseas market arrangements.

In addition, Kuo said Trump's claim that Taiwan "stole" America's chip industry was a "misunderstanding."

According to Kuo, many experts on the matter believe that the U.S. and Taiwan complement each other in the semiconductor supply chain.

The minister noted that America's big tech companies would not have price-competitive advanced chips without Taiwan, and that the U.S. CHIPS Act had not only benefited TSMC, but also non-Taiwanese competitors Intel, Texas Instruments and Samsung.

Kuo said he believed that TSMC, while likely to expand its U.S. operations, would assess and communicate with Washington and keep most key and advanced technologies in Taiwan.

In addition, Taiwan has laws pertaining to technology and skill protection, Kuo added.

Regarding trade talks between Taiwan and the U.S., Yen Huai-shing (顏慧欣), an Executive Yuan Office of Trade Negotiations official, said Taiwan had long established a good trade basis with the U.S. and that the office would keep in contact with the U.S. president-elect's team and confirm trade negotiation strategies.

Meanwhile, Cynthia Kiang (江文若), the head of Taiwan's International Trade Administration, noted that Taiwan and the U.S. had already signed the first agreement in the "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade."

Kiang conceded, however, that the agreement, which still requires Congressional approval, would not come into effect for some time.

Kiang said that after Trump assumes office, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will actively emphasize Taiwan-U.S. trade discussions.