{"id":39150,"date":"2025-04-04T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=39150"},"modified":"2025-04-06T16:50:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T16:50:59","slug":"more-than-just-chips-chinese-threats-and-trump-tariffs-could-disrupt-lots-of-made-in-taiwan-imports-%e2%88%92-disappointing-us-builders-cyclists-and-golfers-alike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/more-than-just-chips-chinese-threats-and-trump-tariffs-could-disrupt-lots-of-made-in-taiwan-imports-%e2%88%92-disappointing-us-builders-cyclists-and-golfers-alike\/","title":{"rendered":"More than just chips: Chinese threats and Trump tariffs could disrupt lots of \u2018made in Taiwan\u2019 imports \u2212 disappointing US builders, cyclists and golfers alike"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jay L. Zagorsky<\/a>, Boston University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would the United States stand to lose economically if its current access to the Taiwanese market were upended or totally restricted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This seemingly theoretical question about the longtime U.S. trading partner has taken on more relevance in the past several weeks. First, longtime fears about a potential Chinese invasion of the island \u2013 which Beijing claims<\/a> as its own \u2013 were magnified as China increased military pressure<\/a> by sending patrols<\/a>, firing live ammunition nearby<\/a>, practicing blockading the island<\/a> and even publicly revealing the existence of new barges<\/a> that might be used in an invasion. If China uses force, Taiwan\u2019s manufacturing capacity<\/a> could be destroyed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then on April 2, 2025, President Donald Trump announced a new 32% tariff<\/a> on imports from Taipei, excluding semiconductors. Taiwan described the new tariffs, part of a radical upending of U.S. trade practices<\/a>, as \u201cdeeply unreasonable<\/a>.\u201d They could also be deeply painful to U.S. consumers given the outsize role Taiwan imports play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. State Department calls Taiwan an important U.S. partner in \u201csemiconductors and other critical supply chains<\/a>.\u201d But as I<\/a> learned studying trade data<\/a> and visiting the small but thriving island last fall, the U.S. depends on Taiwan for more than just sophisticated computer chips. In 2024, Taiwanese products constituted 3.6% of all U.S. imports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall trade figures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trade figures are known in detail because almost every government carefully tracks the contents of all shipping containers, cargo flights and bulk deliveries that legally leave and enter their borders. These figures are published online<\/a> and broken down into very fine detail using a system called the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, or HTS. The HTS<\/a> shows the tax or duty that must be paid for each kind of item and from every kind of country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, the U.S. exported US$1.7 trillion worth of goods to the world. Since few of us can conceptualize trillions, that is about $5,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its part, Taiwan in 2024 exported about that same amount<\/a> per resident of the island just to the U.S., $5,000 \u2013 or about $90 billion overall. The U.S. is Taiwan\u2019s second-biggest trading partner<\/a>, after mainland China. Looking at their total exports, Taiwan shipped to the entire world<\/a> about $20,000 worth of items for every resident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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