Analysis: What Trump Tariffs Mean for Taiwan, Japan and South Korea

TaiwanPlus News

As U.S. President Donald Trump continues his aggressive economic policy of sweeping tariffs, anxiety over a growing trade war is simmering in East Asia. Seoul says Trump’s “America First” policies are targeting South Korea, while Japan says it’s failed to secure tariff exemptions from Washington. For more, TaiwanPlus speaks to Sung Soo Eric Kim, an adjunct business professor at South Korea's Yonsei University and visiting instructor at National Taiwan University.

Transcript

00:00In response to Trump's tariffs, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, all key U.S. allies and

00:06partners in Asia, they say they're trying to find win-win agreements.

00:11What exactly does that look like and what do these countries need to do to make that

00:16happen?

00:17We are in a very difficult situation because Trump is trying to raise tariffs against Taiwan,

00:25South Korea, and Japan, although like Taiwan promised a strong investment recently between

00:32TSMC and U.S., and also Japan promised a strong investment, ICHIBA had a summit with Trump.

00:40They promised a $1 trillion U.S. investment.

00:43But Trump is still trying to put countries in a difficult situation.

00:49For further negotiation, economic relationship and security is a trade-off in the U.S. mindset.

00:57So they are demanding more investment and more cooperative, stronger ties in the United

01:04States, in turn providing security to these countries.

01:09For U.S., what's really important is that they win the battle of AI against China or

01:16any other country.

01:18So that's the top priority that U.S. is focusing on, and they're asking the cooperation of

01:24Taiwan, Korea, Japan to be cooperated in that roadmap.

01:30These three countries are obviously each important to the global chip sector.

01:35Aside from tariffs, though, Trump has also talked about getting rid of Biden's CHIPS

01:40Act subsidy program.

01:42How serious is this for Asian firms in the sector?

01:46I think that U.S. will not totally get rid of the CHIPS Act.

01:51Trump is just saying that they will decide the amount of subsidiaries based on how much

01:58investment these countries make in U.S.

02:02Actually, by pressuring Taiwan, U.S. is getting into a better position negotiating with South

02:09Korea, because they're giving a strong message that even Taiwan that has invested this much

02:17will still have problems.

02:18Giving a strong message to Korea and Japan that the investment should be more cooperative

02:28and realistic in their terms.

02:31And how far can Trump go on his threats?

02:34At what point does he need these partners on his side?

02:38So the priority is to find a middle ground between U.S. and these countries in negotiation.

02:46Korea, Taiwan and Japan are the key players of supplying those most essential semiconductors

02:55to run the high-tech industry in the United States.

03:00So without these three countries, U.S. high-tech industry does not function or any global high-tech

03:06industry will not function.

03:08U.S. is considering these three countries very, very important as an economic partner

03:16and also a science and technology partner, and also by providing security, because they

03:23can't grow without these countries.

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