Director General: Taiwan Committed to $250B Investment Pledge Despite Tariff Ruling 

Some might call it the A.R.T. of the deal. Taiwan reached an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade with the United States in January, ending a standoff during which the island faced 20 percent tariffs and the threat of massive future levies on its all-important chip sector. 

The U.S. agreed to reduce broad tariffs to 15 percent, while Taiwan put down $250 billion in credit guarantees to help its firms expand into the United States.

Crucially, semiconductor companies (read: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC) were assured substantive domestic investment would shield them from future measures to address the trade imbalance. 

But in February, the leverage on which that deal was negotiated went out the window, as the Supreme Court ruled that many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, those imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, were unlawful. 

While the president quickly moved to install new 10 percent tariffs via another (perhaps similarly dubious) authority, he lost the ability to threaten massive hikes at a whim.

That raised a crucial question: Would some countries vie to renegotiate their deals? 

For Taiwan, the answer is an unequivocal no, says Jared (Chu-en) Lin, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta. 

No matter where the tariff rate lands, Taiwan will keep its promises, he asserted. 

“Taiwan’s position is that we will leave this up to the domestic decisions of the United States. (You have to take care of these things yourself). But what Taiwan wants to say is that we honor our part of the agreement, which is the investment part,” Mr. Lin, Taiwan’s top diplomat in six Southeastern states, said during a Global Atlanta Consular Conversations luncheon sponsored and hosted by Miller & Martin PLLC. 

The windfall could be substantial. TSMC and its related suppliers have pledged some $165 billion already in their massive complex of Arizona chip fabs. Even if that’s included in the total, as the U.S. Commerce Department has suggested it could be, that would leave $85 billion in foreign direct investment yet to be poured into the U.S. by Taiwanese firms. That would be more than five times the current Taiwanese investment stock in the U.S., according to Taiwanese government estimates. 

It’s an example of how Taiwan’s foreign ministry is presenting a newly pragmatic argument to its economic and security partners around the world: We offer value, not just values.

“This is something real. This is not just democracy. This is not just vague words. No, we put our promises, our commitments, into action. That is a vivid example of Taiwan wanting to do something with the United States.”

Making the Southeast U.S. Known 

The Southeast U.S. has long been favorable to Taiwanese investment, but the six states covered by the de facto consulate, the TECO office in Atlanta, are little-known in Taiwan, Mr. Lin said. 

Despite having lived in the U.S. three times — in Texas, Oregon and then six years in Washington D.C. — Mr. Lin had to get out his map to find Atlanta before being posted here seven months ago. 

Two months into his new role, he had already visited all six states in his jurisdiction — Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky — plowing the ground for future engagements to bridge the knowledge gap. 

“I would say this is a fertile land to cultivate the closer relationship between Taiwan and the six states,” he said, noting that the storytelling goes in both directions. “I’m talking to Americans at the same time talking to Taiwan back east. Because, you know, this place deserves more visibility in Taiwan. These states seem to be underestimated, and so that gives me a sense of urgency that I need to do more.”

Just before the Global Atlanta event, Mr. Lin appeared before the Georgia State Senate, inviting the state to send a delegation to Taiwan to showcase its interest in courting — and assisting — Taiwanese investors. 

The state has attracted firms like Maxxis Tire, Depo Maxzone and rugged laptop maker Winmate, but most of the investments have been confined to logistics and warehousing, with few involved in manufacturing.

Even those factories that have come have remained relatively small, as Taiwan has yet to produce the huge OEM investments that other partners like South Korea and Japan have brought to the region.

Georgia’s neighbor in Alabama may have achieved one of the first big breakthroughs in the South this past week. Previously home to just one Taiwanese firm — Regitar USA — Alabama attracted a $430 million investment from Minth Group, an automotive supplier set to put a factory in Gadsen, Ala. 

While that deal was undoubtedly in the works long before the recent trade agreement, Mr. Lin suggested that the states showing interest could eventually be rewarded, even while stressing that private companies in Taiwan make their own decisions. Similarly, the TECO office is inviting state legislators, governors and economic developers to Taiwan, knowing that not all will take advantage. TECO, he says, is looking for interest.  

“If you are ready to go, our office is ready to help, to assist,” Mr. Lin said. “We want to bring Taiwan’s resources to the United States, and we want to bring the state of Georgia’s presence to Taiwan.”

Peachtree Corners is set to lead a delegation to a smart-mobility conference in Taiwan soon. 

Not Today: Taiwan’s Strategy for Fending Off Chinese Invasion 

Deepening commercial ties with the U.S. has long been a tent of Taiwan’s security strategy. 

Some reference the so-called “Silicon Shield” created by Taiwan’s estimated 90 percent market share in the world’s most advanced chips. The idea:   Attacking Taiwan would paralyze the global economy, a fact that should give China pause while offering the U.S. a dollars-and-cents incentive to protect the island. 

The spreading of the semiconductor supply chain to Japan, Germany and the U.S. through TSMC investments doesn’t undermine Taiwanese security, Mr. Lin said, contending that it gives partners even more of a vested interest in Taiwan’s success.

Mr. Lin thanked the U.S. for its security support, noting that getting Mr. Trump to drop American opposition to an arms deal during his first term was a highlight of the Taiwanese diplomat’s six-year tenure in Washington, which was focused mainly on security issues. 

The “pressure” — he doesn’t like the word — from the U.S. on rebalancing trade, he said, has made the bilateral relationship healthier, he asserted. 

But he also noted that a strong economy is just one component of Taiwan’s defense. The island is working to build its own resiliency — in energy, supply chains, military strength and diplomacy, where it has been marginalized thanks to Chinese pressure. Just 13 countries afford Taiwan official diplomatic recognition.  

The key is steady vigilance and preparedness that continues to make the risk of an attack outweigh the potential benefits for China. 

“We just want to make ourselves stronger and stronger so that China will say, when they consider when is the best time to attack Taiwan: Not today, not today.” 

Shared values, he added, are still a part of the equation in dealings with the U.S. As a democracy devoted to human rights, Americans will feel somewhat at home in Taiwan, he said, despite the cultural differences. 

Taiwan’s soft power includes not only culinary delights like the boba tea served at the luncheon, but also its welcome, safety and old-fashioned “awareness of respect,” reflected in the way people care for one another, even when trying to catch crowded metro trains. 

Taiwan is also trying to step into a vacuum China  left with the closure of its Confucius Institutes, which funded Chinese language instruction across the U.S. but were decried as influence operations by the U.S. government. The Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning in Atlanta is just one example, though Mr. Lin said he was open to connecting with more universities to see how further collaboration could boost Mandarin-language instruction in the state. 

Read USTR’s fact sheet on the ART here and see the full text below:

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