US Commerce Secretary Hints at Worker Training in Trade Deal With Taiwan

TaiwanPlus News

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says training American workers and increasing investment are central to a new trade deal with Taiwan. While Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has signaled support for the Trump administration's goals, opposition lawmakers worry such demands could spark a "brain drain" of top engineers. The negotiations aim to lower tariffs on Taiwanese exports in exchange for expertise to boost US semiconductor manufacturing.

Transcript

00:00Washington wants Taiwan to train its workers in advanced chip making, part of a deal to

00:05lower tariffs on Taiwan.

00:07That's according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Letnick in a recent interview.

00:11But the fact is, this administration's goal is to bring semiconductor manufacturing to

00:18America.

00:19You remember TSMC announced a $100 billion increase in their project, in their build

00:25in Arizona, up to $165 billion.

00:28I think when we do a deal with Taiwan, that's even going to be bigger.

00:31And of course they're going to train American workers.

00:33Taiwan's cabinet, which is leading the negotiations, said on Thursday that workforce training was

00:38not part of the negotiations, but that it would be natural for Taiwanese companies to

00:42train their American workers.

00:44But President Lai Qingda, speaking with American media through an interpreter, signaled he's

00:48on board with the U.S. strategy.

00:50He framed it as a way to deepen ties.

00:52We remain supportive as President Trump seeks investments from Taiwanese semiconductor

00:58companies and suppliers in the U.S.

01:01We hope Taiwan-U.S. tariff negotiations will not only help reduce the U.S. trade deficit,

01:07but also deepen bilateral economic cooperation.

01:10But demanding that Taiwan train U.S. workers is controversial here.

01:14Some lawmakers fear a brain drain of top-tier engineers to the U.S.

01:19President Lai may also have dropped some hints about the type of investment Taiwan could make

01:23in the U.S.

01:24When asked whether the Trump administration's goal to reach 50 percent of chip production

01:28in the U.S. in the next few years is realistic, here's what he said.

01:31Whether this target of 40 to 50 percent can be achieved within this time frame depends not

01:37only on Taiwan's support, but also on the U.S. government's ability to facilitate land

01:43acquisition, water and electricity supply, workforce and talent development, and investment incentives.

01:51That list — land, water, and power — sounds very similar to the kinds of services provided

01:56at Taiwan's science parks.

01:58Those are the industrial clusters where much of the country's chip production is concentrated.

02:02And it seems to be the kinds of problems that could be solved through what the government

02:06is calling the Taiwan model of investment — private sector money, help with industrial

02:10clusters, and workforce training.

02:13So we'll see how lawmakers here react as they will have to approve any final U.S.-Taiwan deal.

02:18But the comments from Lai and Lutnik do give some insight into what that deal might look

02:22like.

02:23I'm Shun Klein-Wong and Chris Gorin in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.

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