Trade war: Taiwanese firms to flee mainland China over Donald Trump’s tariffs, claims Taipei
Self-ruled island’s government offering ‘the most effective’ help for companies to move operations to Taiwan, ministers say
Taiwanese businesses based in mainland China are being persuaded to move home by the escalating US-China trade war, according to the island’s government, which is promising “the most effective” aid to help them do so.
At least 20 Taiwanese enterprises were likely to relocate from the mainland to Taiwan, wary of the imminent impact of fresh US tariffs on imports from mainland China, Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin said on Tuesday.
The stand-off between the world’s two biggest economies has expanded dramatically this week, with US President Donald Trump announcing on Monday that he will impose 10 per cent tariffs from next week – climbing to 25 per cent on January 1 – on US$200 billion of Chinese goods.
Trump threatened to place tariffs on another US$267 billion of imports if China took retaliatory action – which Beijing did, saying it will put tariffs on US$60 billion of US goods – in a further worry for Taiwanese firms with mainland production bases.
The United States does not apply its tariffs to Taiwan, which is self-ruled but regarded as a renegade province by Beijing.
