讀後心得

International Center Comprehensive Report, U.S. President Trump recently signed an executive order imposing a 32% "reciprocal tariff" on multiple countries, including Taiwan. Japanese media personality Akio Yaita believes that while this move puts pressure on Taiwan's economy, it is commendable to regard Taiwan as a country. He suggests that Taiwan should seek response strategies, including reducing tariffs, increasing imports of U.S. goods, and accelerating the transformation of traditional industries to high technology to enhance competitiveness. Yaita emphasizes that this is an opportunity for Taiwan to face new challenges.

The President of the United States signed an executive order on the 2nd, announcing the imposition of "reciprocal tariffs" on multiple countries, with tariffs on Taiwan increasing by 32%. In response, a Japanese media personality stated that although this puts pressure on Taiwan's economic development, the U.S. still defines Taiwan as a country, "and for that alone, it deserves applause."

On the 4th, he posted on social media that although Taiwan has faced a 32% increase in tariffs, "since the situation has happened, Taiwan should look for coping strategies to continue developing under the new rules." He emphasized that the U.S. increase in tariffs is based on a unified calculation method, rather than personal subjective judgment, "which allows us to clearly identify current challenges." He compared this to Taiwan facing college entrance exams; although the difficulty of the questions has increased, all candidates face the same pressure, and as long as they identify the characteristics of the questions and prepare adequately, there is still a chance of achieving good results.

He believes Taiwan can consider the following measures:

• Lower tariffs to promote the import of U.S. products to Taiwan, such as automobiles. When he first came to Taiwan, he was shocked by the prices, and the high tariffs have made vehicle prices in Taiwan exorbitant, which actually harms consumers' interests.
• Increase imports of goods from the U.S., especially energy, as Taiwan needs to import a large amount of oil and natural gas annually. Shifting imports to the U.S. could reduce the trade surplus and benefit future tariff negotiations.
• Accelerate the transformation of traditional industries into high-tech industries. Many traditional industries facing increased tariffs will eventually face elimination regardless of the new tariffs, so the government should take this opportunity to increase subsidies to promote transformation, enhancing Taiwan's overall competitiveness.

Finally, he added, "When the tariff list was announced, Taiwan was regarded as a country; for that alone, it deserves recognition."