Taiwan's Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun has returned from Washington after negotiating a deal that lowers Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15% with no stacking, in exchange for US$500 billion in investment and financing tied to US-based chipmaking. Opposition parties argue the deal could “hollow out” Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, while the economy ministry says only 20% of advanced chip production would be in the US by 2036, a figure some industry experts dispute.
