Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) confirmed in an interview on Wednesday that official tariff negotiations between Taiwan and the U.S. have begun. Lin said that the talks aim to address concerns raised by the U.S. and that Taiwan will continue providing additional information on areas of particular American interest.
The negotiations come in response to new tariff measures announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in early April. Initially, a 32% tariff was imposed on Taiwanese goods. This was later reduced to 10% for a 90-day period. Last Friday, the Taiwanese trade negotiation team held a virtual meeting with U.S. counterparts to discuss the issue. Recently, the Trump administration also announced investigations into products such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, with new tariffs expected to be imposed in the future.
Minister Lin says that there has been some progress in the scope and content of the Taiwan-U.S. tariff negotiations. He adds that both sides are maintaining open channels of communication as negotiations move forward.