TAIPEI, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The head of Taiwan's central

bank said on Thursday that he doubted that U.S. President-elect

Donald Trump's new administration would penalise Taiwan given

the island's central role in the semiconductor industry.

Trump unnerved Taiwan on the campaign trail by accusing it

of stealing American chip business. Trump also proposed a 10%

tariff on all U.S. imports and a 60% levy on Chinese-made

products.

Taking lawmaker questions, Taiwan central bank governor Yang

Chin-long said that the semiconductors and other tech products

manufactured on the island are materials of such strategic

importance that their supply chain should not be disrupted.

"Chips and information and telecommunications products are

what the U.S. needs most," Yang said. "I don't think the United

States would penalise Taiwan."

Taiwan-U.S. cooperation on chips is beneficial for both, he

added.

"They design them and we make them," Yang said.

In his first term as president, Trump imposed import tariffs

on China but spared Taiwan.

Taiwan, home to tech giants such as chip manufacturer TSMC

, is a major supplier to global titans like

Apple ( AAPL ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ) and is considered a

bellwether of world technology demand.

However the governor also said that if new tariffs proposed

by Trump were to go into effect, it would have an impact on

Taiwan's export-dependent economy, a risk the central bank

flagged in a report to parliament on Wednesday.

Taiwan also runs a sizable trade surplus with the United

States, which Yang said was expected to hit $50 billion this

year.

Yang said that apart from buying more goods from the United

States, TSMC's investment in the U.S. could also help address

the trade imbalance.

TSMC is spending $65 billion on new factories in the U.S.

state of Arizona.

The United States is Chinese-claimed Taiwan's most important

international backer and arms supplier, even in the absence of

formal diplomatic relations.