Taiwan’s President meets tech leaders to address US tariffs

• Published On: 06 April 2025 at 14:47

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te met with top technology industry executives on Saturday to plot answers to newly announced U.S. import tariffs, expressing full support to retain Taiwan’s global economic edge and protect national interests.

The discussion followed President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement on Wednesday, which placed much higher import tariffs on dozens of trading partners—including Taiwan, which now faces a 32% duty on various products due to its considerable trade imbalance with the U.S.

Semiconductors, a significant Taiwanese export, are excluded from the levies.

According to presidential spokesman Karen Kuo, President Lai held the group at his official house to address “the global economic and trade challenges brought about by the reciprocal tariff policy.” While individual companies were not listed in the official statement, Kuo verified the participation of representatives from Taiwan’s important information and communications technology sector.

“President Lai aims to provide maximum support to industry, stabilize the economic situation, ensure Taiwan’s global competitiveness, and safeguard national interests and the steady progress of our economy,” Kuo added.

Local media sources named some of the high-profile participants as TSMC Deputy Co-COO Cliff Hou—also chairman of the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association—and Young Liu, chairman of Apple supplier Foxconn. Neither business responded to calls for comment immediately, with TSMC now in a pre-earnings quiet period ahead of its financial announcement on April 17.

On Friday, Taiwan’s government announced a NT$88 billion (US$2.67 billion) support package to help local firms absorb the impact of the new U.S. tariffs. While Taiwan has labelled the tariffs “unreasonable,” it has stopped short of announcing any retaliatory actions and wants to engage in talks with the U.S. over the matter.