Taiwan Claims Strong Support From Trump After Repeatedly Criticizing Semiconductor Business

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The support from the administration of US President Donald Trump for Taiwan is claimed by Taipei to be "very strong". Taiwan is considering making more purchases from America, including LNG, to help balance trade.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Taiwan for taking over the US semiconductor business, saying he wants the industry to be re-based in the US.

Trump also threatened to impose a large import rate on countries that have incommensurate trade with the United States, which could have an impact on Taiwan, given the large trade surplus the country generates.

Speaking at the Halipax International Security Forum in Taipei, Joseph Wu, head of Taiwan's National Security Council, said Taiwan has many friends in the new government, especially in the field of security and defense forces.

"Trump's support for Taiwan is still very strong," he said.

"I think Taiwan is in a good position," he continued.

Asked about Trump's comments on the chip, Wu said Taiwan's TSMC, the dominant maker of advanced semiconductors, started from scratch.

We didn't steal anything from anyone. Taiwan is very honest in doing business with the international community," he said.

Taiwan experienced a huge trade surplus with the United States, which jumped 83% last year, with island exports to America hitting a record $111.4 billion, driven by demand for high-tech products such as semiconductors.

Taiwan is discussing what else they can buy from the United States, Wu said.

"If the United States has very good products that Taiwan needs, then they will be one of the products we will think about," he continued.

Liquid natural gas, in the form of LNG, is one of the areas being considered by the government, especially from Alaska, although most of Taiwan's supply currently comes from Qatar and Australia.

Wu says the US LNG is of very high quality, but comes from suppliers in Texas and Louisiana, which take longer to reach Taiwan as it has to go through the Panama Canal.

"If Alaska started producing large amounts of LNG, it would be a great time for us to buy more and we're in discussions with Alaska right now," he said without providing details.