讀後心得

President Lai Ching-te proposed that regarding the United States' imposition of a 32% tariff on Taiwan, both sides could start discussions from a "zero tariff" perspective. Scholars pointed out that this represents both opportunities and challenges for substantive trade agreement negotiations with the United States. They suggested that Taiwan should try to narrow its trade surplus with the U.S. and strive for similar tax rates as those with Japan and South Korea. Additionally, it was emphasized to highlight favorable conditions for investment in the U.S. to avoid industry relocation. Although the likelihood of signing a free trade agreement with the U.S. is low, efforts should still be made to continuously explore cooperation opportunities with the United States.

In response to the United States imposing a 32% tariff on Taiwan, President Lai Ching-te proposed on the 6th the idea of "starting with zero tariffs between Taiwan and the U.S." Scholars analyze that President Lai's suggestion is tantamount to hoping to engage in substantive trade agreement negotiations with the U.S., which presents both an opportunity and a challenge. Scholars recommend that Taiwan should prioritize reducing its trade surplus with the U.S. and strive for the same tax rate as Japan and South Korea.

The Vice President of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research believes that the tariff negotiations mentioned by President Lai could refer to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), starting from "zero tariffs" between Taiwan and the U.S. This approach is quite challenging; the key is that Taiwan should strive to achieve a level taxation rate with Japan and South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, Taiwan should work hard to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S., including military procurement and various energy purchases.

He further pointed out that while assuring Trump of TSMC and other companies' investments in the U.S., Taiwan should also seek favorable conditions for Taiwanese companies to ensure that investments between Taiwan and the U.S. can flow in both directions, avoiding the risk of industry relocation. What Trump anticipates is the return of manufacturing to the U.S. and reindustrialization, while Taiwanese companies create investment and jobs for the U.S., fulfilling Trump's campaign promises. Taiwan should strive for benefits including tariff reductions, establishing green channels for Taiwanese manufacturers, and the treatment of economic special zones, and enable Taiwanese companies to list in the U.S. to leverage American capital to strengthen industries.

Regarding the exclusion of non-tariff trade barriers, he pointed out that whether it's reducing auto tariffs to zero or removing trade barriers for U.S. pork and beef, due to Taiwan's smaller market size, it may find it difficult to gain favor from the U.S. If progress is to be made, it is suggested to gradually remove or achieve zero tariffs over several years to reduce the impact on domestic industries.

The Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Chamber of Commerce interpreted that the Vietnamese government has expressed a desire to bring tariffs to zero and received positive feedback from Trump. President Lai's mention of the "zero tariffs" initiative may also be an effort to gain a response from Trump. He stated, "It's worth a try; one can’t not try at all." He pointed out that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the "zero tariffs" proposal mentioned by President Lai are already establishing a bilateral substantive free trade agreement, which typically includes the elimination of tariff regulations, procurement policies, removal of subsidies for water and electricity, and issues to prevent currency manipulation. These are indeed topics of concern for Trump and represent both an opportunity and a challenge for Taiwan. However, he also mentioned that the possibility of Trump signing a free trade agreement with Taiwan is not high, which still requires continuous observation.