Taiwan, U.S. to hold more talks on tariffs after 1st meeting

Taipei, April 12 (CNA) Taiwan and the United States will hold additional talks on tariffs after representatives of both sides held their first meeting on Friday U.S. time, according to the Office of Trade Negotiations under Taiwan's Executive Yuan.

The office confirmed on Saturday Taipei time that the negotiation teams from Taiwan and the U.S. talked with each other via a teleconference, saying the two sides exchanged views on reciprocal tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and other issues such as non-tariff trade barriers and export controls.

The office did not disclose other details about the negotiations, citing a mutual tacit understanding, but said the two sides will hold further talks in the near future.

On Friday, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Taiwan was among the first group of countries to enter into tariff negotiations with the U.S. on the Trump administration's latest tariff announcement, which has sent ripples through the global financial markets.

On April 2 U.S. time, Trump announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on U.S. trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on Taiwanese goods that was set to take effect on Wednesday.

Trump had also declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries starting April 5. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the United States would face higher duties beginning Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (26 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (37 percent).

On Wednesday afternoon U.S. time, however, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the new measures, with reduced 10 percent duties to be applied instead to all countries except China.

Lai has said Taiwan has no intention of launching retaliatory measures to counter the U.S. tariffs, and sought to enter negotiations with the Trump administration with a goal of "zero tariffs," modeled after the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Lai acknowledged the "significant impact" that the 32 percent tariff would have on Taiwan's economy, but urged the public not to panic, citing Taiwan's strong economic fundamentals.

As for non-tariff barriers, Taiwan remains on the latest U.S. list of trading partners with trade barriers, according to a report released by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on March 31, two days before Trump's reciprocal tariff announcement.

The report raised concerns over Taiwan's tariffs on goods imported from the U.S., as well as non-tariff barriers, technical trade barriers, measures on animal and plant quarantine, intellectual property rights protection, the service sector and investments, among other barriers.

According to Lai, although 23.4 percent of Taiwan's exports went to the U.S. in 2024, more than 75 percent were shipped to other markets.

He said among the goods exported to the U.S., competitive information and communication technology (ICT) products and electronic components made up 65.4 percent -- a sign that Taiwan's economy remains highly resilient, riding waves of strength of advanced tech items.