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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] The United States has reportedly asked Taiwan to commit to around $400 billion in investments as part of ongoing trade negotiations—an amount larger than what Washington requested from South Korea and comparable to Japan’s pledge.
According to Taiwanese media outlets China Times and Liberty Times, citing the Financial Times, the U.S. and Taiwan are close to announcing the results of their recent trade discussions. Sources familiar with the matter said Washington pressed Taipei for a large-scale investment commitment ahead of concluding tariff negotiations. The draft agreement is said to place Taiwan’s obligation between South Korea’s pledged $350 billion and Japan’s $550 billion, with Taiwan expected to be asked for approximately $400 billion.
The figure reportedly includes the $165 billion investment already planned by TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, for its U.S. operations.
However, Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Wang Mei-hua, told China Times that the details have not been finalized. The Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) also stated that negotiation teams are continuing discussions with the U.S. through virtual meetings and document exchanges, pursuing a “Taiwan model” of supply chain cooperation. The office emphasized that it is working to secure tariff reductions, including Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment for items affected by Section 232 duties under the U.S. Trade Expansion Act.
알파경제 Paul Lee 특파원(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
