U.S. Tariff Threats Overshadow Taiwan Cabinet’s One-Year Review

TaiwanPlus News

An event meant to celebrate the Cabinet's achievements in its first year in office was overshadowed by U.S. trade tensions. Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun revealed that Taiwan’s trade representative Jenny Yang met with U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer on the APEC summit sidelines, though no progress was confirmed.

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00:00Much attention was paid to negotiations in Washington at a press conference with Taiwan's

00:05cabinet, ostensibly about the ruling party's accomplishments after one year in power.

00:09That's because Taiwan is facing two distinct tariff threats from the US.

00:14The first is a 32% tariff on most Taiwanese goods, which has been paused for 90 days.

00:20The second is a potential special tariff on semiconductors and electronics, Taiwan's

00:24most important exports.

00:26Vice Premier Zhengli Jun gave updates on trade talks, revealing that a meeting between

00:31US Trade Representative Jameson Greer and Taiwan's Trade Representative Jenny Young took place

00:36yesterday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea, though she did not say if

00:41the meeting led to any significant progress in negotiations.

00:45Zheng also said that Taiwan officially submitted an opinion in the US investigation that could

00:50lead to those semiconductor tariffs I mentioned.

00:53Here's the Vice Premier's description of what was in that opinion.

00:55Now, beyond the trade talks, Premier

01:25Jhoorong Tai also highlighted what he considers the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's

01:30accomplishments in the last year, such as disaster relief and preparedness, accomplishments

01:35in boosting public safety and reducing crime, and the country's economic growth.

01:40But this government has really been hamstrung by an opposition-led legislature that has frozen

01:44or cut much of the budget.

01:46Even now, an economic relief package that's meant to address the economic damage from US tariffs

01:51is caught in political infighting.

01:54So while the cabinet is emphasizing what it's done, many are wondering how much more it can

01:58continue to do.

02:00Justin Wu, Jon Su, and Chris Gorin in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.

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