US support for Taiwan remains 'very strong,' Taiwanese official says
TAIPEI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Support from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration for Taiwan remains "very strong" and Taiwan is looking at more purchases from the country, including LNG, to help balance trade, a senior Taiwan security official said on Thursday.
Trump has repeatedly criticised Taiwan for taking U.S. semiconductor business, saying he wants the industry to re-base to the United States.
He has also threatened broad import tariffs on countries which have unbalanced trade with the United States, which could affect Taiwan, given the large trade surplus it runs.
Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in Taipei, Joseph Wu, head of Taiwan's National Security Council, said the island had many friends in the new administration, especially in the security and defence apparatus.
"The Trump administration support for Taiwan remains very strong," he said. "I think Taiwan is in a good position."
Asked about Trump's comments on chips, Wu said that Taiwan's TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab, the dominant maker of advanced semiconductors, started from scratch.
"We didn't steal anything from anybody. Taiwan has been very honest in doing business with the international community," he said.
Taiwan runs a large trade surplus with the United States, which surged 83% last year, with the island's exports to the U.S. hitting a record $111.4 billion, driven by demand for high-tech products such as semiconductors.
Taiwan is discussing what else it can buy from the United States, Wu said.
"If the United States has a very good product Taiwan happens to need, then it will be (among) the items that we will be thinking about," he added.
Liquefied natural gas, of LNG, is one area the government is already considering, especially from Alaska, though most of Taiwan's supplies at present come from Qatar and Australia.
Wu said U.S. LNG was very high quality, but coming from existing suppliers Texas and Louisiana, it took longer to reach Taiwan given it had to go via the Panama Canal.
"If Alaska starts producing LNG in big numbers, that will be a very good time for us to buy more and we are in discussion with Alaska now," he said, without giving details.
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