Taiwan will not accept a 50-50 chips production agreement with us, says the negotiator

Taipei (Reuters) -Taiwan will not agree with an agreement with the United States for half of all semiconductor production that will take place in the country, said the main feature negotiator on the island after returning home.

The United States Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, told US Television Network News Nation during the weekend that Washington’s launch to Taiwan would be a 50-50 division to make chips, the vast majority of which are now held on the island.

Taiwan’s vice president, Cheng Li-Chiun, who leads the tariff conversations with Washington, told journalists when he returned to the island that he had not discussed the idea of ​​50-50 suggested by the United States during the conversations.

“Our negotiation team has never committed to a 50-50 division in chips. Be sure that we do not discuss this problem during this round of conversations, nor would we agree on such conditions,” he said, according to Taiwan’s official central news agency.

Neither the United States Department of Commerce nor the United States Commerce Representative Office responded to requests for comments sent outside the US business hours.

Taiwan, home of the largest contract chips manufacturer of the TSMC world, directs a large commercial surplus with the United States. Exports from the island to the United States are currently subject to a 20%rate.

TSMC, whose business is emerging a strong demand for artificial intelligence applications, is investing $ 165 billion to build chip factories in the American state of Arizona, although most of its production will remain in Taiwan.

Taiwan’s government said last month that he expected a more favorable tariff rate in the United States after the conversations achieved “certain progress.”

Speaking in Parliament in Taipei on Tuesday, Prime Minister Cho Jung-Tai said Cheng had had multiple conversations with the United States about tariff issues.

“The most critical substantive consultations are currently in progress,” he said.

Cheng, speaking at the airport, said that there had been “detailed” discussions that threw “certain progress”, added the central news agency.

(Ben Blachardediting report by Shri Navarathnam)