A view of Taipei, the island of Taiwan Photo: VCG

The White House's announcement of a 20 percent tariff on the Taiwan region -higher than the 15 percent imposed on Japan and South Korea -has sparked intense debate on the island. Some local media even ran headlines likening it to "squeezing a lemon," while many people in the island mocked the tariff as a "success" of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s kowtowing to the US, expressing deeper concerns over its impact on the stock market and the island's overall competitiveness.

The Taiwan region's exports to the US will be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting August 7, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on Thursday. The 20 percent levy was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the European Union (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent), according to Taiwan regional media. 

Media in the Taiwan region gave wide coverage to the tariff move, with some citing a Politico report saying that Taiwan was being "squeezed like a lemon." A Politico report on July 30 said that before the Friday deadline, "US trade negotiators are squeezing Taiwan like a lemon," said a person familiar with trade talks between the US and the island. 

Earlier on PTT, a media platform in Taiwan island, threads about Taiwan's new 20 percent US tariff rate went viral, with users sarcastically calling it a "great success" and others fretting over the stock market and lost competitiveness, according to udn.com.

Some netizens mocked comparisons - "20 percent vs. Japan/Korea's 15 percent" - and warned orders would shift to rivals. Many demanded to know what concessions secured the rate. 

Eric Chu, the chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang Party, said on Friday that the 20 percent tariff announced by the US, along with an estimated 12 percent exchange rate loss, adds up to a substantial 32 percent cost burden. He noted this is a "serious setback," especially when compared to the 15 percent faced by Japan and South Korea, according to local media.

Wider concerns in island

Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te said on Friday that the new 20 percent tariff rate set by the Trump administration on goods imported from the island is "temporary," and that regional authorities "expect to negotiate a lower figure," according to a Reuters report.

However, local media cited a report from the island's economic authorities stating that, under the 20 percent tariff rate, the machine tool, mold, plastic product, and electronic materials sectors in Taiwan are expected to be among the most severely affected. 

It also noted that with Japan, South Korea, and other key rivals facing only a 15 percent tariff, and the New Taiwan dollar continuing to appreciate, the combined impact of tariffs and exchange rates may force Taiwan's machine tool industry to effectively retreat from the US market.

The Labor Party on Taiwan island strongly criticized the US tariff policy, calling it a manifestation of American unilateral hegemony aimed at reshoring strategic industries. It also criticized the Lai Ching-te authorities for allowing repeated US exploitation over the past few months, sacrificing Taiwan's economy, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by Wang Wu-lang, secretary-general of the Labor Party, on Friday. 

The DPP authorities negotiated with the US without keeping the public posted of the progress or terms, without industry consultation, or labor input, while making unilateral concessions to the US. "Lai Ching-te's approach — pursuing 'independence' by relying on the US — has come at the expense of Taiwan's traditional industries and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)," the statement said, warning that the DPP's failure to challenge US economic unilateralism risks turning the island into a political pawn and pushing it toward a dangerous brink.

The 20 percent tariff is a major blow to the DPP. While Lai claimed to be renegotiating, any future reduction will likely come with new US demands. The Lai authorities have failed to defend Taiwan island's interests, and its lofty rhetoric only masks incompetence, amounting to political deception, Zheng Jian, a professor at the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Friday.

The DPP's trade negotiations with the US also expose the collapse of its strategy of relying on the US to seek "independence." The so-called "international support" is a political illusion, and the setback in the tariff talks is the inevitable result of that hollow approach, said the expert. 

Global backlash to US tariffs 

Aside from the Taiwan region, in a statement issued Thursday evening, the White House said US President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders that included increasing tariffs on dozens of trading partners with steep tariffs ahead of a Friday trade deal deadline, including a 35 percent duty on many goods from Canada, 50 percent for Brazil, 25 percent for India, 19 percent for Thailand and 39 percent for Switzerland, foreign media outlets reported.

This pair of executive orders also included increasing tariffs on Canada from 25 percent to 35 percent and laid out specific tariff rates for about 70 other trade partners. The new tariff regime will go into effect on August 7, CNN reported.

The sweeping tariff hikes have drawn fierce opposition from leaders and officials from various countries and regions involved, some of whom are already vowing retaliatory measures.

The US is again wielding calibrated tariff threats to force trading partners such as Canada and others to rewrite domestic policies and lock in bilateral deals favorable to Washington, Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.

Zhou warned the move will pose a steep challenge for all trading nations. It will expose businesses to significant cost disparities and ongoing compliance uncertainty, resulting in supply chain disruptions and soaring freight costs, foreshadowing a wider impact.

When asked for comment on the Trump administration's executive order imposing tariffs on a large number of trading partners, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Friday said China's opposition to the abuse of tariffs is consistent and clear. Tariff and trade wars have no winners. Protectionism is in no one's interests, Guo said.