00:00In the early hours of Wednesday, Vice Premier Cheng Lijun arrived back in Taiwan from her latest round of trade negotiations with Washington.
00:09And she had a message to deliver, that Taiwan will not agree to move half of its chip production to the U.S.
00:30Semiconductors have been a focal point of U.S. trade talks, as Taiwan produces the vast majority of the world's most advanced chips.
00:41U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently floated the 50-50 agreement, which would have Taiwan produce one semiconductor in America for every chip it exports to the U.S.
00:52The idea has been criticized by some opposition lawmakers in Taiwan.
00:57It comes at a time when Vice Premier Cheng is trying to negotiate with Washington to lower U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs on Taiwan.
01:07Trump has slapped a 20% levy on top of existing duties for Taiwanese goods entering the U.S.
01:15Taiwan is also concerned about tariffs specifically aimed at semiconductors, by far the country's biggest export.
01:23Trump has ordered an investigation into semiconductor imports and their impact on U.S. national security.
01:30After that's done, he may impose a so-called Section 232 tariff on them.
01:36Taipei has time and again emphasized that the 20% rate is temporary,
01:41and that Cheng's team is working with its American counterpart to lower that number.
01:45As Taipei works to conclude the trade agreement with Washington,
02:03at home, the tariffs have already had serious effects on the workforce.
02:07According to a recent Labor Ministry survey, over 300 companies have furloughed close to 8,000 total people because of U.S. tariffs.
02:17But on the figurative sidelines of the tariff saga, Taiwan and the U.S. continue to strike other deals.
02:24Having discussed with my colleagues at the United States Department of Agriculture,
02:28we have decided to take the next step in allowing Taiwanese producers of pineapple access into the U.S. market.
02:36Lindbergh is leading a delegation of American businesses to Taiwan to sell more products.
02:43The two sides also signed a memorandum to increase U.S. milk imports to Taiwan.
02:48But the topic of tariffs continues to weigh on Taiwan-U.S. exchanges,
02:53as a Taiwanese lawmaker asked the U.S.'s de facto embassy in Taiwan to advocate for lower tariffs during the memorandum signing.
03:01We have to ask for AIT and Trump's administration.
03:04We also hope that the tariffs and tariffs will make both partiesäș«ć the best product.
03:09Whether or not these deals will secure any goodwill from Washington will be up to the Trump administration.
03:16But they do come at a pivotal time, as Zheng said, that tariff negotiations are entering the endgame.
03:22Luffy Lee and Leslie Liao for Taiwan Plus.
03:24Luffy Lee and Leslie Liao for Taiwan
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