Market access offer could help Taiwan in U.S. trade talks: Ex-official

Washington, July 22 (CNA) Taiwan is adopting a "cooperative" approach in trade talks with the United States but should do more on market access and transshipment controls to reach a deal, Taiwan's former top trade negotiator John Deng (鄧振中) said Tuesday.

In a video forum held by the U.S.-based think tank Hudson Institute, John Deng (鄧振中), who stepped down as Taiwan's top trade negotiator last year, admitted that Taiwan is anxiously waiting for a conclusion to the talks as it heavily depends on trade.

But, "Taiwan, from the beginning, has taken a very cooperative approach," Deng said.

Unlike some countries, which have appeared very confrontational, "Taiwan is totally different. From the president [to] the ministers, they all made it very clear that they want to cooperate with the United States."

Deng said that if he was still working for the government, he would suggest that Taiwan do more in the area of market access as one of the two critical things for Taiwan to do to strike a deal with the U.S.

"I think the market access issue can have more room that we should be able to do it," Deng said.

In addition, "I think I would tighten up these transshipments...More work can be done here [on] these transshipments," Deng said.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced "reciprocal" tariffs on April 2, including a 32 percent tariff faced by Taiwan, but has allowed its trading partners to negotiate for a lower levy.

With Trump emphasizing that the tariffs will go into effect on Aug. 1 if deals are not reached, many in Taiwan have been waiting impatiently for the results of talks as the deadline approaches.

At the forum, Hsieh Chang-tai (謝昌泰), a professor with the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, praised Taiwan's cooperation with the U.S., describing the cooperative approach as the "right thing" to do.

Hsieh said a combination of investments in the U.S. and purchases of more American goods were aimed at satisfying the Trump administration.

In early March, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) pledged to invest additional US$100 billion in Arizona over the next few years to boost its investment in the state to US$165 billion.

At the same time, state-owned oil supplier CPC Corp. Taiwan is preparing to expand its purchases of natural gas from the U.S. to reduce Taipei's trade surplus with Washington, which stood at US$73.9 billion in 2024, up from US$47.8 billion in 2023.

In addition, Taiwan has promised to spend more on national defense by buying more weapons from the U.S.

Agreeing with Hsieh, Riley Walters, a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, said the Lai administration was headed in the right direction by working on things like defense spending and export controls to be strategically aligned with America's interests.

But Walters said that was not enough.

"The only advice that I can really give is that they're not going to get what they want at the end of the day," Walters said. "It's mostly political though."

Walters said the Lai administration has to prepare itself to shoulder a political loss at home in a bid to allow the Trump administration to score a political win.

"It's going to take a lot of good diplomacy," he said. "So prepare for that."