Opposition leaders criticize DPP's tariff response in 'summit'

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) The leaders of Taiwan's main opposition parties bashed the government's response to United States President Donald Trump's "reciprocal tariffs," saying it had failed to secure any benefits despite pledges to increase investment in the U.S.

Eric Chu (朱立倫), chairman of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), and Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), leader of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), met Tuesday to discuss the economic challenges posed by Trump's tariffs and the "democratic crisis" Taiwan was witnessing.

Chu cautioned that while people's attention were focused on the tariffs, it was just a tool. The more pressing problems for Trump, he said, were solving the U.S.' exchange rate crisis and debt crisis, and this could present Taiwan with "serious challenges."

"A major crisis will come in June when US$6.5 trillion in U.S. national debt is due. The whole world is watching whether a U.S. national debt crisis will happen," Chu warned.

That poses a real risk for Taiwan's US$578 billion in foreign exchange reserves, of which 80 percent is U.S. national debt, leaving it particularly susceptible to the economic shock of a failure by the U.S. government to repay the debt, Chu said.

The Trump administration initially announced on April 2 U.S. time a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, with computers, smartphones, and semiconductors later exempted on April 11.

A week later, the tariffs were then postponed for three months though a basic 10 percent import duty on the goods of most countries was maintained.

In response to Trump's tariffs, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced plans to increase investment in the U.S., and his administration endorsed the additional US$100 billion investment in the U.S. pledged by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in March, Chu said.

That has not helped exempt Taiwan from Trump's tariffs, however, Chu argued.

With big tech companies including TSMC, Foxconn, and Wistron teaming up with Nvidia to invest US$500 billion in U.S. AI server production, the question for the Lai administration is, "What are we getting in return?"

Huang said the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has yet to put forward an impact assessment report on the tariffs since Trump announced them.

The opposition will create an impact assessment platform comprising academics, former economic officials, industry representatives, and local government heads to gauge the impact of the U.S. tariffs over the next six months, Huang said.

Huang stressed that the deals struck in the government's negotiations with the U.S. must not be inferior to those obtained by Taiwan's main trade competitors, including Japan and South Korea, or the ramifications would be "catastrophic" for Taiwan's industrial sector.

He said Taiwan should sign a free trade agreement with the U.S. to mitigate the negative impact brought forth by the tariffs.

"International trade cannot withstand volatile uncertainties. The opposition will give the ruling party its firmest support in voicing our shared demand to the U.S.: Treat Taiwan as its true ally and sign an FTA," he said.

In response, DPP spokesperson Justin Wu (吳崢) panned the opposition for "rumormongering" by implying that the DPP had not adopted a more proactive stance in addressing the tariff issue.

At a news conference at the DPP headquarters, Wu said Lai and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) have held a series of exchanges with representatives from various sectors since Trump announced the tariffs.

He and DPP spokesperson Han Ying (韓瑩) outlined measures laid out by the Cabinet so far, including an NT$88 billion (US$2.7 billion) industry support plan.

During Cho's debrief to the Legislature on April 11, he outlined the expected impact that the tariffs could have on various sectors, but Huang and his TPP colleagues were absent, Wu said.

It is "regrettable" that the opposition has resorted to a "mudslinging" political stunt in the name of unity and public interest, Wu said.