TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan hopes that it can come to a quick agreement with the United States to resolve tariffs and has already approached Washington to discuss the issue, a senior Taiwanese official said on Wednesday.
Taiwan has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 32% tariff on the island with an offer of zero tariffs, as well as to invest more and buy more from the United States. Taipei has said it will not retaliate.
Speaking to reporters at parliament, Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said the government’s position was not to take retaliatory measures, but to come up with more specific solutions.
President Lai Ching-te has instructed officials to initiate “strategic communication” between Taiwan and the United States, he added.
“So last weekend, we used channels to talk to the U.S. to reflect our position on Taiwan-U.S. tariff negotiations and some of our proposals,” Tsai said, without giving details.
Lai has held many meetings with officials to discuss the detailed response, including how to strengthen investment or procurement in the United States, he added.
“I think that through this more comprehensive negotiation preparation, we hope that once the United States agrees that Taiwan and the U.S. can have a related negotiation process, the two sides can quickly come to an agreement to promote the progress of the relevant negotiation.”
The tariffs have hammered Taiwan’s stock market.
The government on Tuesday evening announced the activation of its $15 billion stock stabilisation fund to restore investor confidence and ensure market stability.
However, the benchmark stock index closed down 5.8% on Wednesday hitting its lowest in nearly 15 months and compounding the hefty losses of the two previous sessions.
Shares in top chipmaker TSMC dropped 3.8%, while Apple supplier Foxconn’s shares fell by the daily limit of 10%.
Semiconductors are so far excluded from the tariffs.
(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Tom Hogue, Lincoln Feast and Kate Mayberry)
