Taiwan seeks tariffs cut to 15% in US trade deal

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TAIPEI, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Taiwan is aiming for tariffs on its exports to the United States to be cut to 15% from 20% now, though help in training U.S. workers is not among the “conditions” figuring in their trade talks, senior Taiwan officials said on Monday.

A major semiconductor producer, Taiwan has repeatedly said its offer to the United States in talks has been the “Taiwan model”, to help replicate the island’s success in building tech clusters around dedicated science parks.

Responding to questions in parliament, Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, Jenni Yang, said the aim was for the rate to be dropped to 15%.

Last week Reuters reported that President Donald Trump’s administration was negotiating a deal that could commit Taiwan to fresh investment and training of U.S. workers in chip making and other advanced industries, though sources familiar with the matter said details might change before the deal was finalised.

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is investing $165 billion in the United States to build factories in Arizona.

If TSMC needed government help in training its workers, that could be discussed, Taiwan Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin said, adding, “This is not one of the negotiating conditions,” in the U.S. talks, however.

Neither Kung nor Yang would give an exact timeframe for a pact to be struck, though Yang said the government would work to complete it before the end of this year.

Taiwan’s semiconductor exports are not subject to the U.S. tariffs of 20%.

In August, Trump said the United States semiconductor imports would face a tariff of about 100%, but exempted companies manufacturing in the United States, or those which have committed to do so.

Such companies include TSMC, though U.S. officials are privately saying they might not levy the tariffs soon, Reuters reported last month.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Jeanny Kao; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)