Over 40% of Taiwan’s exports exempt from US tariffs: Politico

By Sam Garcia / Staff writer

Half of all US imports are now exempt from emergency tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump eight months ago, including 42 percent of Taiwan’s goods, Politico said in an article published on Sunday.

Trump rolled out global tariffs based on the US’ trade deficit with other countries in April, but since then “enormous holes have appeared,” Paroma Soni wrote for Politico.

Exemptions for specific products, trade deals with major allies and overlapping tariff laws mean that more than half of all imports are not subject to the tariffs, the article said.

Photo: Reuters

While the emergency tariffs are levied on about US$1.6 trillion of annual imports, at least US$1.7 trillion are excluded “either because they are duty-free or subject to another tariff,” according to Politico’s analysis.

Only 23 percent of Taiwanese exports to the US are subject to the emergency tariffs, the least of the US’ top trading partners, Politico’s analysis showed.

About 42 percent of Taiwanese exports to the US are exempt from the tariffs and the remaining 35 percent are already covered under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act, Politico said.

The US has not yet imposed tariffs on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.

Meanwhile, 62 percent of Canada’s exports to the US face the emergency tariffs, the highest of any country, followed by Vietnam at 57 percent, India at 54 percent, China at 52 percent, Mexico at 47 percent, the EU at 36 percent, Brazil at 33 percent, the UK at 32 percent, South Korea at 28 percent and Japan at 26 percent, Politico’s analysis shows.