section_path: Trade conflicts by country/Asia/Taiwan
section_name: Taiwan
paragraph_text: Taiwan
  
  On April 2, 2025, Donald Trump announced a "reciprocal tariff" of 32% on Taiwanese goods, but excluded semiconductor products, the island's primary exports. Trump had previously criticized Taiwan for gaining an unfair dominance in the semiconductor industry and not spending enough on its own defense. Taiwan's government called the tariffs "unreasonable" but chose not to retaliate, instead offering to increase imports from the US and remove all tariffs on American goods.
  
  The new tariffs exacerbated public concerns over the level of support from the United States. The Kuomintang said that the tariffs were a heavy blow to president Lai Ching-te 's policy of depending on the US to counter China and castigated the government's unpreparedness and ineffective response. On April 7, Premier Cho Jung-tai convened a meeting at the Executive Yuan with legislative caucus leaders across party lines to discuss the potential impacts of the US tariff hike on Taiwan. During the meeting, Premier Cho expressed appreciation for their participation and emphasized that the government had completed assessments on both macroeconomic and sector-specific levels. He presented a NT$88 billion plan and urged collaboration between the executive and legislative branches to expedite budget review and implementation, stabilize the economy, and support industries through the challenges ahead.
  
  Even after Trump's "walk back", Kao Shien-quey, deputy head of the National Development Council, stated that if the tariffs were ever to be fully re-implemented, Taiwan's manufacturing sector would be likely to see a 5 percent drop in production value.