US Cuts Tariffs on Select Taiwan Goods, but Chip Question Remains Open

Taiwan’s chief trade negotiator, Yang Jen-ni (L), Taiwanese Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (C), and Taiwan’s top representative to the United States, Alexander Yui (R), speak at a press conference at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington on Jan. 16, 2026. Eva Fu/The Epoch TimesThe United States has reduced tariffs on select Taiwanese auto parts, wood products, and civil aircraft components, delivering a narrow but legally binding part of a U.S.–Taiwan economic arrangement while leaving open the larger question of how Washington will treat semiconductor imports from the island.The changes, published in the Federal Register on May 28, cap certain Section 232 duties on Taiwanese automobile parts, timber, lumber, and wood derivative products at 15 percent. The notice also removes derivative Section 232 steel, aluminum, and copper duties from civil aircraft components made in Taiwan.