US business group says Washington should treat Taiwan like partner not adversary

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TAIPEI (Reuters) -The United States should treat Taiwan like a partner and not an adversary, remove new and proposed tariffs, restore high-level cabinet visits and agree a double taxation deal, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan said on Tuesday.

Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, enjoyed strong support from U.S. President Donald Trump’s first administration, which regularized arms sales that President Joe Biden continued.

But Trump, as part of his sweeping tariffs on countries around the world, in April said he would put a 32% tariff on Taiwan, before pausing them for 90 days. Taiwan and the United States are still in talks to resolve the issue.

AmCham Taiwan President Carl Wegner, releasing the group’s 2025 White Paper, said he would be leading a delegation to Washington later this month to have “door knock” talks with officials on concerns about the tariffs and how to boost Taiwan-U.S. business ties.

“Taiwan is a reliable friend of the United States, an essential democratic partner in the Indo Pacific, a major investor in American industry and a critical contributor to supply chain resilience,” he told reporters in Taipei.

Trade measures that were initially designed to address unfair practices by strategic competitors like China are now being targeted at friends like Taiwan, Wegner said.

“It is in America’s interests to ensure Taiwan is treated like a partner, not like an adversary.”

The White Paper said an agreement to avoid double taxation, currently stalled in the U.S. Senate, should urgently be resolved to remove investment barriers, while high-level visits by U.S. cabinet members should resume.

Neither Taiwan nor the United States have provided substantive public updates on the tariff talks.

The U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment sent outside of Washington office hours.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)