ACHIEVING RECIPROCAL TRADE: Today, the United States and Taiwan, under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (“AIT”) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (“TECRO”), have reached an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade that will strengthen the economic and trade relationship between the United States of America and Taiwan and provide mutual benefit to both territories, while also facilitating significant expansion and growth to U.S. manufacturing through substantial tariff reductions, removal of non-tariff barriers, investments, and procurement in key sectors and products. The Agreement on Reciprocal Trade is a testament to the importance of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship and reflects both sides’ ambition to increase bilateral investment and commercial opportunities, deepen their high-tech strategic partnership, ensure supply chain resilience, and jointly promote stability and prosperity.
GROUNDBREAKING TERMS: Key terms of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade include:
- Breaking Down Tariff Barriers for U.S. Industrial and Agricultural Exports: The Taiwan side will eliminate or reduce 99 percent of tariff barriers. The Taiwan side will provide preferential market access for U.S. industrial exports, including autos and auto parts, chemicals, seafood, machinery, health products, electrical products, metals, and minerals. It will also provide preferential market access for U.S. agricultural exports, including horticultural products, wheat, beef and beef products, dairy products, pork and pork products, lamb and sheep meat, tree nuts, dog and cat food, ketchup, and peanuts.
- Breaking Down Non-Tariff Barriers for U.S. Industrial Exports: The Taiwan side has committed to resolve longstanding non-tariff barriers affecting U.S. exports of motor vehicles, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. For U.S. vehicles, Taiwan will remove quantitative restrictions and accept U.S. vehicles built to U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and emissions standards without additional requirements to enter Taiwan. Taiwan will also accept U.S. FDA marketing authorizations for medical devices and pharmaceuticals manufactured in the United States without additional requirements for entry into Taiwan’s market. Taiwan will also ensure transparency and fairness regarding reimbursement and listing of medical devices and pharmaceuticals under its health care system.
- Breaking Down Non-Tariff Barriers for U.S. Agricultural Exports: The Taiwan side has committed to resolve and prevent non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural exports, including beef, pork, poultry, and processing potatoes. It will also work with the U.S. side to complete the regulatory process to allow bison meat into Taiwan.
- Geographical Indications (GIs) and Market Access: The Taiwan side has committed to groundbreaking provisions that will preserve current and future U.S. market access for U.S. cheese and meat producers who rely on the use of common names. This includes ensuring that market access will not be restricted due to the mere use of certain cheese and meat terms. The Taiwan side has also committed to robust standards for transparency and fairness regarding the protection of GIs and to ensure that U.S. products can continue using terms that have been unfairly protected as GIs.
- Protecting and Enforcing Intellectual Property: The Taiwan side has made commitments that will benefit American innovators and creators by enhancing intellectual property protection and prioritizing enforcement against intellectual property theft. This includes aligning with the standards in key international intellectual property treaties.
- Improving Labor Standards: The two sides recognize the importance of protecting internationally recognized labor rights. The Taiwan side will prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor, and improve protection of labor rights on commercial fishing vessels, address the charging of recruitment fees in certain sectors, prohibit retention of workers’ identity documents, and strengthen enforcement of labor laws. The two sides will continue to advance additional changes to enhance protection of workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining in Taiwan.
- Strengthening Environmental Protections: The Taiwan side has committed to continue to adopt and maintain high levels of environmental protection and to effectively enforce its environmental laws, including by taking measures to promote a more resource efficient economy as well as to address illegal logging, fisheries subsidies, illegal fishing, and illegal wildlife trade.
- Confronting Public Enterprises and Subsidies: The Taiwan side has committed to refrain from providing non-commercial assistance or otherwise subsidizing its good-producing public enterprises, except where the actions fulfil a legitimate public services objective, benefit small businesses, or protect its essential security interest.
- Advancing Trade Facilitation and Good Regulatory Practices: The two sides share common values and are committed to similar approaches to good regulatory practices, customs and trade facilitation, standards and technical regulations, and services and digital trade.
- Facilitating Mutually Beneficial Investment: The two sides intend to create the best possible environment to promote and facilitate cross-border investments. The U.S. side will, as appropriate, consider supporting investment financing in critical sectors in Taiwan in collaboration with U.S. private sector partners, consistent with applicable law. The two sides also take note of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by AIT and TECRO on January 15, 2026, in which the Taiwan side promises to work with the United States to establish industrial parks and industry clusters that will help the United States substantially increase its domestic production capacity in key high-tech sectors. The MOU contemplates that Taiwan companies will significantly increase their investments in the semiconductors supply chain, electronics manufacturing services (including AI applications), energy, and other sectors in the United States, with financial support from the Taiwan side. The MOU also confirms that the U.S. side will provide Taiwan preferential treatment with regard to tariffs and other remedial measures in the Section 232 investigation of semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, taking into account Taiwan’s economic and national security alignment and high-tech strategic partnership with the United States, as well as in certain other Section 232 investigations. A link to the Fact Sheet describing the MOU can be found here.
- Promoting Supply Chain Resilience: The two sides are committed to strengthening cooperation toward their shared goal of enhancing supply chain resilience and will continue to work to finalize commitments on combatting duty evasion.
- Strengthening Economic Security Alignment: The two sides have committed to strengthen economic and national security cooperation to enhance supply chain resilience. These efforts will include ensuring that international procurement obligations benefit only those countries that have taken on the same commitments.
- Increasing Purchases of U.S. Products: The two sides commit to cooperate on ensuring secure, reliable, and diversified sources of supply. The Taiwan side plans to facilitate a long-term increase in its purchases of important U.S. goods, including $44.4 billion worth of liquefied natural gas and crude oil, $15.2 billion worth of civil aircraft and engines, and $25.2 billion worth of power equipment, power grids, materials, generators, storage facilities, marine equipment, steel-making equipment, and other equipment from 2025 through 2029.
THE PROSPEROUS PATH FORWARD: In advance of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade entering into force, the two sides will undertake domestic formalities, which will include the Taiwan side submitting the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade to its legislature for review.
- Given the Taiwan side’s commitment to take significant steps to advance a stronger and more reciprocal trade relationship, the U.S. side has committed to reduce its tariffs on originating goods from Taiwan. It will apply the higher of either the U.S. Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff rate or a tariff rate of 15 percent, comprised of the MFN tariff and a reciprocal tariff within the meaning of Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, as amended.
- The U.S. side has also identified certain products from the goods contained in the “Potential Tariff Adjustments for Aligned Partners” Annex to Executive Order 14346 of September 5, 2025 (Modifying the Scope of Reciprocal Tariffs and Establishing Procedures for Implementing Trade and Security Agreements), as amended, that will not be subject to a reciprocal tariff.
- Two-way trade in goods and services with Taiwan amounted to more than $185 billion in 2024.
LIBERATING AMERICA FROM UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES: Since Day One, President Trump challenged the assumption that American workers and businesses must tolerate unfair trade practices that have disadvantaged them for decades and contributed to our historic trade deficit.
- On April 2, President Trump declared a national emergency in response to the unprecedented threat caused to the United States by the large and persistent trade deficit caused by a lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships, disparate tariff rates and non-tariff barriers, and U.S. trading partners’ economic policies that suppress domestic wages and consumption.
- President Trump continues to help U.S. farmers, ranchers, fishermen, small businesses, and manufacturers to increase U.S. exports to and expand business opportunities with our trading partners.
- Today’s announcement provides a tangible path forward with Taiwan that underscores the President’s dedication to bringing balanced, reciprocal trade with an important trading partner.
