The Donald Trump administration has rolled back tariffs on certain imports from Taiwan, in a follow-up move tied to the trade agreement the two sides struck in February.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing the US Federal Register, that Washington is exempting Taiwan-made aircraft parts from tariffs on aluminum, steel, and copper derivatives. For Taiwanese auto parts and wood, lumber, and wood derivative products, the administration set a product-specific tariff cap of 15%.
The US and Taiwan signed a trade agreement in February that included mutual tariff reductions, market opening, and expanded investment. Under the deal, the US lowered its country-specific tariff on Taiwanese products from 20% to 15%, while Taiwan agreed to eliminate or reduce 99% of its tariff barriers on US imports. Taiwan also pledged to expand investment in semiconductor and advanced industry supply chains within the US and to increase imports of American agricultural products and energy.
Reciprocal tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which the Trump administration had pursued, have been nullified through checks by the federal judiciary and Congress. As a result, the administration has been leveraging authorities under existing trade laws, such as Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act and Section 301 of the Trade Act, to impose tariffs of up to about 10% even on allies as a pressure tool. The latest measure is a working-level adjustment within this turbulent context, calibrating additional steel and aluminum tariff burdens under Section 232 while maintaining the mutually agreed 15% reciprocal tariff ceiling between the US and Taiwan.
The move drew added attention because it came shortly after the meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi raised the Taiwan issue as the first agenda item on the first day of his summit with Trump in Beijing on the 14th, drawing widespread attention. "If the Taiwan issue is mishandled, the two countries will collide or even clash, and push the entire China-US relationship into a very dangerous situation," Xi said, warning Washington at an unprecedented level.
Trump stirred controversy by telling reporters aboard Air Force One on his way home from China, "We talked a lot about Taiwan," adding, "I discussed the Taiwan arms sale issue with President Xi in great detail." The US is currently pursuing an arms sale to Taiwan worth $14 billion (about 21 trillion won).
Experts say whether the arms sale goes through will serve as an important milestone for US-China relations and Washington's Taiwan policy following the summit. A high-level US military delegation is visiting Taiwan for four days, from the 26th to the 29th. According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP), the delegation, comprising 41 senior executives from the US defense industry, is attending the 9th US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference to exchange views with Taiwanese government and defense industry officials. "The visit by the high-level US delegation reflects Taiwan's efforts to strengthen deterrence amid mounting military pressure from China, and demonstrates the growing linkage between strategic cooperation and arms sales," the SCMP said.
