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Taiwan says to discuss 'unreasonable' tariffs with US

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Taiwan subject to new 32% tariff by Trump

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Semiconductors are excluded from tariffs

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Tech powerhouse Taiwan runs large trade surplus with US

(Recasts, adds government comment, paragraphs 4-7, TSMC

declining comment, paragraph 11, pictures available)

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, April 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan's government said on

Thursday that U.S. tariffs levied on the island were

unreasonable and it would discuss them with Washington, partly

blaming U.S. tech curbs on China in President Donald Trump's

first term for driving the trade imbalance.

Trump on Wednesday announced across the board import

tariffs, with much higher duties for dozens of trading partners,

including Taiwan which runs a large trade surplus with the

United States and will have a 32% duty placed on its products.

The U.S. tariffs, however, do not apply to semiconductors, a

major Taiwan export.

Taiwan's cabinet said in a statement that it regretted the

"unreasonable" U.S. tariffs and it would seek clarification and

continue talks with Washington to ensure Taiwan's interests were

protected.

How the United States has calculated the tariffs was unclear

and did not reflect the complementary trade structure between

the two sides, the cabinet said.

Taiwan's exports to and trade surplus with the United

States have increased because of U.S. demand for semiconductors,

and artificial intelligence-related products, as well as Trump's

first-term tariffs and controls on China, it added.

This resulted in "the shift of Taiwan's supply chain back to

Taiwan and an increase in U.S. demand for Taiwan's information

and communications products, reflecting the huge contribution of

Taiwan to the U.S. economy and national security", the cabinet

said.

During Trump's first term in office from 2017 to 2021, he

placed some Chinese companies on trade blacklists that curbed

their access to crucial U.S. hardware and software, benefiting

U.S. ally Taiwan as orders shifted to Taiwanese firms.

Taiwanese government officials have repeatedly said

trade with the United States has been skewed by an insatiable

demand for Taiwanese technology products, such as advanced

semiconductors - a sector dominated by the island, home to major

chipmaker TSMC.

TSMC last month announced a new $100 billion investment in

the United States.

The company declined to comment on the tariffs, saying

it was in its quiet period ahead of its first-quarter earnings

on April 17.

In a separate statement after the tariff announcement, the

American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan said it continued to

stress Taiwan's "indispensable" role in the U.S. economy.

"In a time of growing geopolitical complexity, the

U.S.-Taiwan partnership is not only a driver of shared economic

prosperity but also central to supply chain security and

regional stability," it said in a statement.

Trump's announcement followed the end of the latest round of

Chinese war games around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own

territory despite the objections of Taipei's government.