TAIPEI, April 9 (Reuters) - Taiwan's hopes that it can

come to a quick agreement with the United States to resolve the

tariffs issue and last weekend 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 island with an offer of zero tariffs, more investment

in the country and purchases from it, and 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.

The benchmark stock index was down around 1.5%

on Wednesday, after hefty losses in the two previous sessions.

Shares in top chipmaker TSMC were flat, while

Apple supplier Foxconn's shares dropped around 4%.