00:00Now that the Trump administration has threatened to raise tariffs on South Korea if it doesn't
00:05pass a trade deal with the U.S., how might that affect Taiwan's own efforts to pass a
00:11trade deal with Washington, especially among lawmakers who are concerned about the further
00:16weaponization of trade by the U.S.?
00:19The fact of the matter is that Trump has weaponized trade with the entire planet.
00:25And so, well, on one side you could say that the deal that Taiwan reached was terrible
00:29because Taiwan was coursed into it.
00:32The fact of the matter is that the deal that Taiwan came up with was far better thought
00:38out and had far better terms, from what we know, than Japan or South Korea got.
00:44With Japan and South Korea, the U.S. government gets to decide where the investment goes and
00:50keeps a percentage of the profits.
00:52Taiwan does not appear to have those restrictions.
00:55It really feels like the Japanese and the South Koreans rushed into a deal and have a very
01:03much of a back of scribbled on the back of a napkin kind of feel about it, whereas Taiwan's
01:08deal is a lot more carefully thought out.
01:11And within the broader context of how the Trump administration has been using the leverage
01:17of the U.S. market to extract trade terms from countries around the globe, Taiwan's deal
01:23is one of the best.
01:24Well, that being the case, do you think that Taiwan's slower, more deliberative negotiation
01:29process has resulted in a deal that is more likely to pass?
01:34Well, I can't speak to South Korean or Japanese politics, but I think domestically it will be
01:40hard for the opposition to object too strenuously to this deal.
01:47And the reason I say this is that within the KMT there are going to be elements who want to
01:52oppose this in their role as opposition to the government.
01:57And they often take stances to oppose the government, to prove a point and to extend the power of
02:04the legislature.
02:05However, in this case, you've got a lot of powerful figures in the KMT who want this deal
02:12done, signed and delivered as fast as possible.
02:16So, for example, Taichung Mayor Lu Xioyen, who is considered the front runner to represent
02:23the party in the presidential election in 2028, and Taichung is particularly dependent on things
02:28like precision machinery, machine tools, traditional industries that need relief now, and they need
02:35it fast.
02:36And she came out very strongly in favor of this deal.
02:39So, if the KMT legislative caucus tries to push too hard against the deal, what they're
02:47going to find is that a lot of constituents and a lot of powerful figures within the KMT
02:51are going to push them to go for it.
02:54So, the KMT, I don't think there's a unified front against it.
02:58So, tell us a little bit.
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