Although U.S. President Donald Trump is set to implement reciprocal tariffs on April 2, reports suggest that specific industries, including semiconductors, may be exempt.
Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at Taiwan’s Institute of Economic Research (TIER), says that Taiwan's semiconductor trade surplus stands at NT$1.84 trillion (US$5.57 billion), but exports to the U.S. account for only NT$86.9 billion (US$2.63 billion). She says the reason for this is that these products undergo further processing before reaching their final destinations. She adds that should the U.S. impose tariffs on Taiwanese chips, how it calculates the tariffs will be a key factor.
Despite potential exemptions, Liu says Trump’s policies are unpredictable. She believes industry players will continue looking into contingency plans and monitoring for any changes in U.S. policy and their potential impact. TIER President Chang Chien-yi (張建一) says while Trump's policies could create global economic headwinds, Taiwan should not react to every policy shift. He thinks that maintaining a 3% economic growth rate this year should still be achievable.