Taiwan seeks lower US tariffs as trade talks near completion.
Taiwan is seeking to lower tariffs on its exports to the US from 20% to 15%, as trade negotiations between the two sides near completion, officials said on 1 December 2025.
Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, Jenni Yang, said the talks follow the “Taiwan model,” which helps replicate the island’s success in building tech clusters around science parks. She added that Taiwan is likely to secure tariff stacking relief and may gain most-favoured-nation status under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act.
Yang and Economics Minister Kung Ming-hsin denied reports that the US is demanding that Taiwan train American workers. TSMC and other Taiwanese firms in the US already run their own training programmes to support operations.
TSMC is investing USD 165 billion to build multiple fabs in Arizona and plans a further USD 100 billion investment.
Taiwan hopes to conclude the trade talks before the end of the year, with its semiconductor exports currently exempt from existing US tariffs.
