By Jeanny Kao and Faith Hung
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan is considering a variety of responses to potential new tariffs from the United States including increasing energy imports and reducing the island’s own tariffs to balance bilateral trade, government officials said on Thursday.
Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have said that much of the reciprocal U.S. tariff focus will be on 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the United States.
Bessent has referred to the countries as the "Dirty 15" but has not named them.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Taiwan is one of the 15, along with countries such as China and South Korea plus the European Union.
The tariffs are due to be announced on April 2.
Taking lawmakers questions in parliament, Taiwan’s deputy economy minister Cynthia Kiang said a specially created trade task force had "preliminary plans" to increase energy product imports from the United States, to boost energy cooperation with the U.S. and enhance natural gas supply stability.
Taiwanese state energy firm CPC Corp earlier this month signed an agreement with Alaska Gasline Development Corp to buy liquefied natural gas and invest in the project, a move Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said would ensure the island’s energy security.
Kiang, when asked if car tariffs would be reduced given Trump’s announcement of a 25% tariff on auto imports, said that the task force had "already drafted relevant plans."
Speaking at the same parliament committee session, Taiwan Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun said that import tariffs on health supplements and other products would also be reduced.
Taiwan’s central bank on Wednesday defended the island’s trade and currency record, saying the high current account surplus was a structural problem and Washington understood that.
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, a sector Taiwan dominates.