Taiwan Rejects US 50-50 Chip Manufacturing Split Proposal
Taiwan has rejected the idea of a 50-50 split in chip manufacturing recently proposed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (see 2509290046).
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According to an unofficial translation, Taiwan's Vice President and lead trade negotiator Cheng Li-Chun said in a statement that "we have never made a 50-50 commitment and will not agree to such conditions. We will definitely be cautious in dealing with it."
The Taiwanese negotiation team concluded a fifth round of "physical consultations" at the end of September with U.S. trade negotiators in Washington, D.C., and returned to Taiwan, the statement said. It said that Taiwanese negotiators had pushed for reciprocal tariff reduction "without adding to the original MFN (Most Favored Nation) tariff rate" and "preferential tariff treatment" for Section 232 tariffs, adding that they had "achieved some progress."
The negotiations are stalled on the topic of cooperation in chip manufacturing as the Taiwanese are "still in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce" and the increasing number of items the U.S. is investigating under Section 232, the statement said. The Taiwanese "hope to have a more complete discussion" on Section 232 tariffs, and, after a "complete consensus" on preferential tariff treatment has been reached, the two sides will be able to "reach a trade agreement," it said.