Taiwan has reached “a certain consensus” with the United States on tariffs, a Taipei government official said Thursday, but did not provide details on the agreed levy.
“We reached a certain consensus on issues including tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, as well as supply chain resilience and economic security,” cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee said, adding Taipei was “still waiting for the US government’s decision-making process to conclude”.
China’s top leaders have pledged to help companies slammed by higher U.S. tariffs but held back on major moves after trade talks with the U.S. this week kept businesses and planners in limbo.
At their summer economic planning meeting, the powerful Politburo of the ruling Communist Party pledged to stabilize foreign trade and investment.
“We must assist foreign trade enterprises that have been severely impacted, strengthen financing support, and promote the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade,” the official Xinhua News Agency said in reporting the closed door meeting. It mentioned export tax rebates and free trade pilot zones but gave no other specifics.
The inconclusive outcome of two days of trade talks in Stockholm, Sweden, leaves open the question of higher tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States.
Landlocked Laos — a country of only eight million — has a gloomy outlook as it counts down to a Friday deadline when Trump says a 40 per cent levy will kick in unless a trade deal is sealed. The rate is among the highest Trump has touted in his global tariff blitz, which has yielded a handful of deals with countries including Britain, Japan and Vietnam but left dozens others scrambling for a pact.
Laos has limited exports, little leverage and supply chains deeply entwined with US trade rival China.
The United States had a trade deficit of more than $760 million with Laos last year — singling it out for steep tolls alongside other nations Trump sees as imbalanced business partners.