U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed a 32% tariff on Taiwan and listed the country among the worst offenders on his so-called reciprocal tariff chart. Trump has also imposed a universal 10% tariff on all goods going to the United States, a move economists warn could fundamentally change the world economy.
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00:00We didn't want to bring, it's very windy out here, we didn't want to bring out the big charts.
00:03Following through on his campaign pledge to revive American industry,
00:08U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled sweeping global tariffs, starting with a baseline 10 percent
00:14tariff on all goods coming from any country going into the United States. He's then listed out some
00:22of the country's biggest trading partners, levied individually, with rates ranging from 10 percent
00:28to 50 percent. On the left, what the Trump administration has calculated as the trade
00:34barriers countries have against the United States. The right, what Washington is imposing
00:40in retaliation. What we do is we cut it in half, we charge them. My answer is very simple if they
00:46complain. If you want your tariff rate to be zero, then you build your product right here in America,
00:51because there is no tariff if you build your plant, your product in America.
00:56And towards the top of Trump's list is Taiwan.
01:00Taiwan, where they make, they took all of our computer chips and semiconductors.
01:06Though repeating his accusation of Taiwan stealing U.S. chip business,
01:10Trump praised Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC's recent multi-billion dollar investment to the U.S.
01:18And significantly, he's exempting imports of those Taiwanese chips he mentioned in his
01:24announcement. Despite that, he says Taipei has trade barriers up amounting to 64 percent.
01:32So he's slapping on half of that as new taxes on all Taiwanese goods to the United States.
01:39Taipei, coming out with this statement on a national holiday, protested the policy,
01:44calling it strongly unreasonable and that it will have serious negotiations with Washington.
01:50Taiwan does run a large trade surplus with the U.S. at almost 74 billion U.S. dollars,
01:59an issue that has put the country in the line of fire for Trump.
02:03That's largely because of exports of Taiwanese servers and computer parts,
02:08which in February accounted for over 60 percent of its shipments to the United States.
02:14Speaking on behalf of U.S. firms in Taiwan, the American Chamber of Commerce here
02:19has stressed Taiwan's quote, indispensable role in the U.S. economy.
02:24The chamber's chair referencing a survey of its members from late last year,
02:29which showed over 90 percent of them plan to keep or increase their investments in Taiwan.
02:36That strong confidence reflects the fundamentals that have drawn so many of these companies,
02:42not only to be here, but to stay for such an extended period. Fundamentals that include
02:47the rule of law, that include Taiwan's highly skilled and capable workforce and Taiwan's
02:54pivotal position in global supply chains. And those fundamentals have not changed.
02:58Economists around the world have warned Trump's policy could fundamentally change the global
03:04economy and not for the better. Prices will likely go up for everyone, including American consumers.
03:11Trump has remained adamant that U.S. prosperity needs such extreme measures.
03:19As putting pen to paper, he erects historic barriers
03:23around the world's largest consumer market.
03:26Devin Cai and Joyce Chen for Taiwan Plus.