00:00Can I get your impressions of this trade deal overall?
00:03First of all, Taiwan is running a higher trade surplus, well, deficit from the U.S. perspective
00:10than most other competitors, especially South Korea and Japan.
00:18And secondly, because Taiwan is really leading the world negotiation in terms of the
00:26article 232 investigation on high tech and semiconductor.
00:32And lastly, of course, we have been able to
00:37receive one of the most favorite tariff treatments among all major trading partners with the U.S.
00:46So I think that's the minimal three benchmarks I use to make the assessment that after spending
00:52extra time to negotiate, that is probably one of the best outcomes we are able to achieve.
00:59What do you think this tariff means for Taiwanese businesses, in particular, the semiconductor industry?
01:05So about 30 percent of our exports are now subject to this reciprocal tariff of 15 percent or previously
01:1320 percent. But there are around 70 percent of Taiwan's products at this moment is exporting to
01:20the U.S. tariff-free. And most of these products are high-tech products, including especially semiconductors.
01:30You see, the U.S. hasn't really published the final determination of the tariff for the high-tech 232
01:38investigation. The White House published an executive order indicating that for the next 90 days,
01:47it will be 25 percent for the high-tech products. And they urge all countries to start negotiating with the U.S.
01:54But the best part is that we were able to receive a tariff-free quarter for those Taiwanese companies
02:03who are investing and all have already invested in the U.S. And we have the quarter, I speak,
02:11hopefully big enough for most of the Taiwanese high-tech companies to enjoy a zero-tariff
02:17treatment when they do trade with the U.S.
02:20The legislature still needs to review this trade deal. Do you see any barriers to the
02:26implementation of this trade deal here in Taiwan?
02:29We saw, I would say, a broad opposition from the opposition parties on many of the agendas,
02:37even though many of the, especially the trade deals, are actually for Taiwan's benefit.
02:42So I would say the uncertainty comes from the domestic political kind of dialogue situation,
02:50rather than the outcome or the quality of the trade deal.
02:54And that's the source of uncertainty once we send the trade deal for review into the parliament.
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