Taiwan seeks to persuade the US that it offers chip cooperation not competition

TAIPEI – Taiwan may be a world leader when it comes to contract chipmaking, but make no mistake, the island is not challenging the US for tech dominance.

Instead, Taipei is trying to persuade Washington that it seeks cooperation – not competition – even as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused Taiwan of stealing the chip business from his country.

Late on Feb 18, Mr Trump said he planned to impose tariffs of at least 25 per cent on all semiconductor imports, with the possibility of going “very substantially higher over the course of a year”. He did not specify a date but said he wanted to allow time for chipmakers to set up American factories so that they can avoid tariffs.

He had previously threatened tariffs of up to 100 per cent on Taiwan-made chips.

“Taiwan took our chip business away... We want that business back, we want it back in the United States,” the American leader told reporters on Feb 13 as he vowed to reshore manufacturing via tariff policies.

But analysts said the message behind Taipei’s response, delivered via a speech by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te a day later on Feb 14, is clear: Taiwan is not taking from the US but enabling the US to stay ahead.

“Lai knows Taiwan can’t afford to get into a back-and-forth with Trump over who benefits more from the chip industry. Instead, he’s focusing on keeping Taiwan indispensable,” said Professor Julien Chaisse, an international trade expert at City University of Hong Kong.

“If Washington sees Taiwan as an economic necessity rather than a rival, US policymakers will think twice before adopting measures that could disrupt semiconductor supply chains,” he told The Straits Times.

Mr Lai pledged in his speech to communicate more closely with the US government for