Taiwan to buy more US goods following Trump’s 32% tariff threat

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te announced his country will begin purchasing more U.S. goods on Wednesday, following threats of a 32% tariff from President Donald Trump.

Lai made the announcement while hosting a U.S. congressional delegation this week. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, led the first of two U.S. delegations visiting Taiwan this week, with Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., landing in the country with another group on Wednesday.

“Looking ahead, with the global landscape changing rapidly, Taiwan will continue to increase purchases from the US, including energy resources such as natural gas and petroleum, as well as agricultural products, industrial products, and even military procurement,” Lai said in a statement.

“This will not only help balance our bilateral trade, but also strengthen development for Taiwan in energy autonomy, resilience, the economy, and trade,” he added.

TAIWAN EARTHQUAKE MAY IMPACT CHIP SUPPLY CHAIN

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te delivers an address to mark the first anniversary of his inauguration at the Presidential Office in Taipei. (Photo by CHENG YU-CHEN/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Lai also remarked on U.S. weapon sales to Taiwan, which the U.S. has maintained for decades amid the island’s standoff with mainland China. Taiwan broke off from Beijing when democratic forces fled to the island after losing a civil war to the Chinese Communist Party in 1949.

“We are grateful to the US government for continuing its military sales to Taiwan and backing our efforts to upgrade our self-defense capabilities. Taiwan will continue to work with the US to jointly safeguard peace and stability throughout the region,” Lai said.

President Donald Trump threatened a 32% tariff on Taiwanese goods. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The congressional visits come more than a month after semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) announced a $100 billion investment in the U.S. in March.

TSMC has previously invested in a chip factory in Arizona with an initial $12 billion investment, and last April it announced an additional investment of $25 billion to add a third factory at its Arizona facility by 2030 to bring its total investment there to $65 billion.

FUTURE OF CHIPS ACT UNDER TRUMP ADMIN IN QUESTION

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. logo atop a building at the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan. (Photographer: Mike Kai Chen/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The company also received an award of up to $6.6 billion in grants from the CHIPS Act for the Arizona facility as well as other federal funds from the law that aimed to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.

Fox News’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.