The Trump administration has finalised a reciprocal trade deal setting a 15% U.S. tariff on Taiwanese imports, while Taipei agreed to a phased plan to cut or eliminate duties on nearly all American goods.
The document released by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office on Thursday also commits Taiwan to significantly boost purchases of U.S. goods from 2025 through 2029, including $44.4 billion of liquefied natural gas and crude oil, $15.2 billion of civil aircraft and engines, $25.2 billion of power grid equipment and generators, marine and steelmaking equipment.
The agreement adds technical language and specific details to a trade framework deal first reached in January that cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods, including from its powerhouse semiconductor industries, to 15% from the 20% initially imposed by Trump.
The move puts Taiwan on an equal footing with its closest Asian export competitors, South Korea and Japan.
Investment Pledge
The January agreement included a pledge by Taiwan that its companies would invest $250 billion to boost production of semiconductors, energy and artificial intelligence in the U.S., including $100 billion already committed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp 2330.TW. The Taiwan government would guarantee another $250 billion in U.S. investments, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
The deal will immediately eliminate Taiwan’s tariffs of up to 26% on many U.S. agricultural imports, including beef, dairy and corn. But some tariffs, including the current 40% tariff on pork belly and 32% on ham, will only fall to 10%, according to the tariff schedule.
The U.S. said under the deal, Taiwan will remove non-tariff barriers on motor vehicles and accept U.S. auto safety standards as well as those on medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement that the agreement will boost export opportunities for U.S. farmers, ranchers, fishermen, workers, and manufacturers.
For the first 11 months of 2025, the U.S. trade deficit with Taiwan ballooned to $126.9 billion from $73.7 billion for all of 2024, largely due to the large increase in imports of high-end AI chips from Taiwan, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
(With inputs from Reuters)
