Taiwan pledges to buy more American goods as a 32 percent tariff looms
Rep. Bruce Westerman, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, told Lai that the U.S. produces a lot of food and fiber and is 'always looking for more friends to share that with.'
Advertisement
Trade and economic ties between Taiwan and the U.S. have grown closer in recent years. The island faces rising pressure from China, which sees the island as part of Chinese territory and vows to annex it, by force if necessary.
Washington is bound by its own laws to provide Taipei with the means to defend itself, and politicians — both Republicans and Democrats — have come to believe it is in the U.S. interest to deter Beijing from attacking Taiwan.
Many policymakers and analysts have argued that arming Taiwan includes not only weapons sales but closer economic and trade ties so the island is less vulnerable to economic coercion from the mainland.
The U.S. is now the top destination for Taiwan's foreign investments, including $165 billion by Taiwan's semiconductor giant TSMC to build factories in Arizona to make advanced chips. The island also is the 7th largest market for U.S. agricultural exports, Lai said.
Advertisement
However, the U.S. buys far more from Taiwan and had a trade deficit of $116.3 billion in 2024, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The 32% tariff, as proposed by President Donald Trump as part of his sweeping tariff plan, is on hold except a 10% baseline duty. Earlier this month, Lai downplayed the trade tensions between the U.S. and Taiwan as 'frictions between friends.'
The congressional delegation stopped in Taipei as part of the group's larger visit to the Indo-Pacific region through Thursday, according to American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. diplomatic mission on the island.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
32 minutes ago
- The Hill
Doug Ford urges Canada's leader to ramp up tariffs on US
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is pressuring Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney to ramp up tariffs against the United States after President Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum earlier this week. 'I highly recommended to the prime minister directly that we slap another 25 percent on top of our tariffs to equal President Trump's tariffs on our steel,' Ford said during his Wednesday appearance on CNN's 'Situation Room.' 'He has to, he has to start looking around the world at China and other locations that are taking Chinese steel and really stop the flow of steel. That's the problem,' Ford told host Wolf Blitzer. 'Canada is not the problem. Again. We purchased 30 billion, with a 'B,' of steel off the US, and that's going to come to an end real quick.' Trump signed the executive order to hike the tariffs on Tuesday. The measure went into effect on Wednesday and would levy steel and aluminum tariffs on almost all imports to the U.S.. The United Kingdom is exempt as it inked a trade deal with Washington last month. Canada has retaliated against the U.S. previously, slapping a 25 percent reciprocal tariff on U.S. aluminum and steel products. Carney, who met with Trump at the White House in early May, did not express readiness to implement Ford's suggestion. 'We will take some time, not much, some time because we are in intensive discussions right now with the Americans on the trading relationship,' Carney said to reporters on Wednesday, according to Politico. 'Those discussions are progressing. I would note that the American action is a global action. It's not one targeted in Canada, so we will take some time, but not more,' the prime minister said. Ontario is open to imposing its own countermeasures, according to Ford. When asked on Wednesday if willing to bring back the electricity surcharge, he told reporters that 'everything's on the table.' Ontario implemented a 25 percent extra charge on the electricity Canada exports to three U.S. states after Trump threatened to double tariffs on steel and aluminum. Ford eventually spoke to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and later suspended the tax impacting Michigan, New York and Minnesota.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Top Dems claim 51K people will die annually from the 'big beautiful bill' and its Obamacare freeze
Two top Democrats claimed the Republicans' budget reconciliation bill and its proposal to let enhanced Obamacare credits expire will cause the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced findings that an estimated 51,000 Americans could die each year due to Republican-led changes to the federal healthcare system and the broader reconciliation bill. The national debt — which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors — fell to $36,214,400,664,854.53 as of June 3rd, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department. That is down about $1.4 billion from the figure reported the previous day. Wyden called the "stakes" of the 'big, beautiful bill' debate "truly life and death," as a statement from his office read that "a new analysis estimates that more than 51,000 people will die per year as a direct result of the Republican reconciliation bill, and their refusal to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits." "Taking away health insurance and benefits like home care and mental healthcare from seniors, people with disabilities, kids, and working families will be deadly," Wyden said. "This analysis shows the dire consequences of moving ahead with this morally bankrupt effort," he said, referring to a study he and Sanders asked the University of Pennsylvania and Yale to conduct. Read On The Fox News App Liberals Blame Big Beautiful Bill's Loss On Dying Dems The Democrats employed the Philadelphia college's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, as well as the Yale School of Public Health's Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis. "Let's be clear," Sanders said in a statement, "The Republican reconciliation bill which makes massive cuts to Medicaid in order to pay for huge tax breaks for billionaires is not just bad public policy." "It is not just immoral. It is a death sentence for struggling Americans." "[N]ot only will some of the most vulnerable people throughout our country suffer, but tens of thousands will die. We cannot allow that to happen," Sanders added. Winners, Losers And Grab-bags From House Gop's Narrow Passage Of 'Big, Beautiful Bill' In a copy of the study posted on UPenn's website, economics and health-centric academics found 7.7 million people would be estimated to lose Medicaid or Obamacare coverage by 2034, and 1.38 million "dual-eligible beneficiaries" would find themselves "disenroll[ed]." In a statement, Wyden cited figures of 11,300 deaths from the loss of Medicaid or Obamacare coverage, 18,200 deaths from the loss of Medicaid coverage among low-income beneficiaries and 13,000 deaths of Medicaid enrollees in nursing homes due to the rollback of a "nursing home minimum staffing rule" from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Wyden attributed an additional projected 8,811 deaths per year to the "failure to extend the enhanced [Obamacare] premium tax credits," citing the academics' analysis. Fox News Digital reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., -- who spearheaded the "big, beautiful bill" in the House -- for comment. A representative for UPenn told Fox News Digital the university sent the results of their analysis to Wyden and Sanders in response to a request on the matter. "The estimates of mortality that are contained in the letter were based on peer-review research that was done independently and well before their request," the UPenn representative said. "The senators' request was to take the research results and translate into the estimated number of deaths."Original article source: Top Dems claim 51K people will die annually from the 'big beautiful bill' and its Obamacare freeze
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republicans aren't following Elon Musk's lead anymore
Months ago, Elon Musk helped tank a government funding bill. Now, Republicans are mostly shrugging off his criticism of their "Big Beautiful Bill." "I don't think it's gonna move the needle in any direction," one House Republican told BI. Elon Musk says President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" is a "disgusting abomination." Republicans on Capitol Hill are making clear that they don't really care. "I think he's flat wrong," House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. "I think he's way off on this." "We have a difference of opinion," Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Tuesday. "He's entitled to that opinion, we're going to proceed full speed ahead." It's a far cry from December, when Musk, then the incoming de facto leader of the White House DOGE Office, helped generate an online pressure campaign that swiftly tanked a government funding bill. That episode was a dramatic sign of the tech titan's burgeoning influence in Washington, suggesting that GOP lawmakers would be taking his cues — perhaps as much as they took Trump's — in the months to come. Now no longer leading DOGE, Musk has returned to being another outside voice. Fiscal hawks who agree with him don't mind getting a little backup. Other Republicans are happy to brush him off. "Elon, of course, is the wealthiest man in the world, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's wrong or he's right. He has an opinion, just like the rest of us," Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told BI. "I don't think it's gonna move the needle in any direction." Musk did not respond to a request for comment. Trump has continued to pressure Republicans to support the bill, and the White House has said that those who vote against it should face primary challenges. Trump himself has not yet responded to Musk, though Johnson told reporters that the president is "not delighted that Elon did a 180" on the bill. Musk's broadside against the bill, according to him, is about its impact on the debt. Multiple forecasters who have analyzed the bill, including the Congressional Budget Office and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, have estimated that the current version of the bill would add more than $2 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. Musk has argued that this undermines DOGE, which has been trying to significantly reduce federal spending. Republicans were already arguing about this amongst themselves. Fiscal conservatives like Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin say that the version of the bill that passed the House last month adds too much to the debt, and they're now seeking to amend it. Most Republicans, however, have argued that outside projections about the bill's impact on the debt are flawed and don't account for potential economic growth as a result of the bill's eventual passage. Even those who agree with Musk don't seem to believe that his comments will strengthen their hand that much. "Sure, it helps bolster the case," Sen. Ron Johnson told reporters of Musk's tweet. "But again, the President wants to balance the budget as well." Perhaps the biggest reason why Musk's comments are unlikely to tank the bill: It's the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda, and it's simply too important to them. The bill includes a permanent extension of tax cuts that Trump and Republicans first enacted in 2017, contains new funding for border security and immigration enforcement, and is chock full of other GOP priorities that they're not going to give up simply because of Musk's concern about the deficit. "All the things that are in this bill are so important for the US economy, it's going to be jet fuel for the US economy," Speaker Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. "The risk of not getting it done is enormous, not just for the Republican Party, but for the country. We've got to do this." The government funding bill that Musk helped tank in December, on the other hand, was a bipartisan piece of legislation that included all kinds of provisions that Republicans don't agree with. Plenty of fiscal conservatives planned to vote against it anyway, and Musk's involvement strengthened their case, eventually making it untenable for Speaker Johnson to move forward with it. Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, the chairman of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, voted "present" when the "Big Beautiful Bill" passed the House last month. He told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes senators keep Musk's criticism "in mind" as they make changes to the bill, but he didn't predict that it would change much. "He doesn't have to change the dynamic," Harris told BI. "I'm glad that he reminded people that the federal deficit is of grave concern." Read the original article on Business Insider
