President Lai lays out roadmap for bilateral trade ties, response to U.S. tariffs

Taipei, April 10 (CNA) Taiwan will rapidly expand procurement of American goods and arms and remove its barriers to free trade, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) wrote in an opinion piece Thursday, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's massive tariffs measures that have roiled global markets.

In the opinion piece titled "Taiwan has a roadmap for deeper U.S. trade ties," Lai laid out a four-point core plan for Taiwan's response to Trump's tariffs.

Hours after the "reciprocal" tariffs went into effect Wednesday night, Trump said he was authorizing a 90-day pause but would maintain a baseline universal tariff of 10 percent for most countries, with immediate effect. The exception was China, he said, announcing an increased tariff of 125 percent on that country.

In Lai's opinion piece published by Bloomberg early Thursday morning (Taiwan time), he said that first, like other nations, Taiwan will engage in trade negotiations with the U.S. about tariffs.

"While Taiwan already maintains low tariffs, with an average nominal rate of 6%, we are willing to further cut this rate to zero on the basis of reciprocity with the US," he wrote. "By removing the last vestiges to free and fair trade, we seek to encourage greater trade and investment flows between our two economies."

Taiwan will also try to narrow the trade imbalance by "rapidly" procuring energy, agriculture and other industrial goods from the U.S., Lai said.

Moreover, Taiwan will pursue additional arms procurement, which are vital to its self-defense against Chinese threats, he said, noting that those purchases are not reflected in trade balances.

Thirdly, Lai wrote, Taiwan will establish a cross-agency called the "U.S. Investment Team" to facilitate more investments in the U.S., where Taiwan firms, including power chipmaker TSMC, currently support 400,000 jobs throughout all 50 states.

The final core principle will see Taiwan removing barriers to free trade, Lai said, adding that his administration will address U.S. concerns about "export controls and improper transshipment of low-cost good through Taiwan."

"These steps form the basis of a comprehensive roadmap for how Taiwan will navigate the shifting trade landscape, transforming challenges in the Taiwan-US economic relationship into new opportunities for growth, resilience and strategic alignment," Lai wrote.

"At a time of heightened global uncertainty, underpinned by growing Chinese assertiveness, closer trade ties are more than sound economics; they are a critical pillar of regional security," he said.

Hours after the publication of Lai's piece, when Trump abruptly announced the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, his administration said that most nations, including Taiwan, has started to negotiate trade measures with the U.S.

On Wednesday, Lai, who concurrently serves as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said in a DPP central standing committee meeting that it was imperative for Taiwan to work with the Global North countries and democracies, including the U.S., to achieve better economic global outreach and to move further away from China's economic influence.