GoKawiilTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's logo is seen in the background beside a printed circuit board.
Taiwan has told Washington that its proposal to move 40% of the island's semiconductor supply chain to the U.S. was "impossible," Taipei's top tariff trade negotiator said in an interview.
Speaking on a local television broadcast Sunday, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said she had made it clear to Washington that the country's semiconductor ecosystem, built over decades, could not simply be relocated.
Taiwan's international expansion, including its investments in the U.S., is predicated on the notion that the industry remains' rooted in Taiwan and continues to expand domestic investments, she said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.
The comments push back against onshoring targets outlined by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a CNBC interview in January, shortly after the latest U.S.-Taiwan trade agreement. Lutnick said he wanted 40% of Taiwan's entire chip supply chain to shift to the U.S. within President Donald Trump's ongoing term.
Under the deal, the Taiwanese government promised $250 billion in direct investments by its tech companies, with an additional $250 billion in credit provided for them to expand their production capacity in the U.S.
Washington on its part lowered levies on most goods from Taiwan to 15% from 20%, waived tariffs on generic drugs and ingredients, aircraft components and natural resources unavailable domestically, and promised higher quotas for tariff-free exports of Taiwanese chips to the U.S.