Government officials faced tough questions in Taiwan’s legislature over how the country is preparing for potential U.S. tariffs from President Trump. With trade talks ongoing and no official customs notice received, lawmakers are asking for transparency and action.
00:00A grilling in Taiwan's legislature as officials from across the government answer questions about how prepared the country is or isn't for another round of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
00:12Reporter Reese Ayers has been following the questioning and has the latest.
00:16Reese, what did the ministry reps have to say about the ongoing talks with the U.S.?
00:20Well, Jeremy, a lot of waffling and speculation, but not much in the form of any kind of concrete answers from the legislature this morning.
00:31There was a gathering of high ranking ministers and officials, including from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Trade and Economy Ministries, also from the National Security Bureau and a representative from the Office of Trade Negotiation,
00:47the deputy chief negotiator. They were there to discuss the ongoing negotiations and any potential results.
00:55They were also being questioned about the possible impacts that more tariffs from the Trump administration might have on Taiwan and any possible strategies Taiwan could employ to mitigate the impact of those tariffs.
01:11Now, regarding the negotiations, there hasn't been much movement there at all.
01:16After several rounds of talks since Trump's explosive announcement back in April, Taiwan is yet to strike a deal with the United States.
01:26But it's also yet to receive one of Donald Trump's letters, as some other countries have, declaring a new tariff rate for that country, with the deputy trade negotiator saying that they still hope there's time that a deal can be struck.
01:44The deals made with other countries already with the U.S. have some lawmakers worried that Taiwan could settle for a similar bad deal with the United States,
02:12like the one between the U.S. and Indonesia, for example, which will see 19% tariffs on Indonesian products moving to the United States, but no tariffs on products moving the other way.
02:26Now, there were plenty of diplomatic responses like the one there from the deputy foreign minister, but no real answers about where things are right now.
02:56Or where things might be going.
02:58Naturally, negotiations are mostly taking place behind closed doors.
03:03In terms of preparations, Taiwan's legislature, which is controlled by the opposition, has recently passed a special budget to help Taiwan deal with the potential fallout of any more Trump tariffs.
03:18Although that has caused some controversy, particularly one part of the special budget, which would hand hard cash back to the people of Taiwan.
03:28But that special budget has yet to receive presidential approval.
03:34Thanks for that update, Reese.
03:35That was Reese Ayers reporting live from the Taiwan Plus newsroom.
