Taipei: Tariff negotiations with the United States will continue, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun, who recently led a delegation to Washington for a fourth round of trade talks, said on her return to Taiwan on Sunday. “We will keep working hard to secure better tariff rates,” Cheng told CNA when asked about the results of tariff talks as she arrived in Taiwan at around 5:21 a.m. on an EVA Airways flight from the United States.

According to Focus Taiwan, Cheng made the comments following the White House’s announcement on August 1 of a proposed 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods, which is higher than the 15 percent imposed on trade competitors such as Japan and South Korea. The notification from the U.S. government prompted President Lai Ching-te to remark in a Facebook post that the new round of negotiations on the U.S. tariff policy had achieved a “phased result,” reducing the tariff rate from 32 percent to 20 percent.

However, President Lai emphasized that final talks have not yet concluded, and thus, a definitive tariff rate has not been determined. The current 20 percent rate remains “tentative” until further discussions are held. A Taiwan-U.S. economic and trade task force, led by Cheng, reiterated that the 20 percent tariff is “temporary,” as both countries did not finalize talks by the August 1 deadline for tariff reduction agreements.

The task force confirmed that plans are underway for the next round of talks, aiming to reach a mutual agreement and further reduce the tariff.