A seven-member cross-party delegation of Taiwanese lawmakers have discussed a range of issues with members of the U.S. Congress in D.C., including double taxation relief and defense spending. The week-long visit comes at a critical time for the two countries' ties, with a separate Taipei negotiation team led by Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun working to lower U.S. President Donald Trump's 32% tariff on Taiwanese goods.
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00:00Taiwan lawmakers make progress on the Hill, meeting with U.S. senators and representatives in Washington, D.C., as Taipei looks to strengthen ties with its largest international backer.
00:12In the background, ongoing negotiations led by a different Taipei team to avoid steep U.S. tariffs, this bipartisan legislative group looking to relieve pressure on other issues that's weighed on Taiwan U.S. trade, like the problem of double taxation.
00:30We want to avoid double taxation. This is also related to the discussion between the U.S. and the U.S. and the U.S. Department.
00:36And if we want to invest more in the U.S. to the U.S., we want to invest more in the U.S. to the U.S.
00:43Before Donald Trump took office in January, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to cut taxes on Taiwanese businesses and employees in the United States, easing the burden of being taxed in both countries.
00:58Taiwan praised the move.
01:00The bill is now in the hands of the Senate to approve, paving the way for the U.S. president to sign it into law.
01:08The delegation is looking to keep up the momentum behind the bill at a time of a changing world order under Trump.
01:15Some American lawmakers, too, are working to retain longstanding bipartisan support for Taiwan.
01:23It's important we have strong relations with Taiwan and the military there.
01:27That's a hugely important trade corridor in the Straits of Taiwan.
01:30So it's important we maintain strong relations, and that's what we're going to do.
01:34But Taiwan has been rattled by some of the Trump administration's demands, like a call for Taipei to raise its defense spending to 10 percent of GDP, a rate Premier Zuo Rongtai says is impossible.
01:47In D.C., ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Wang Dingyu hopes to show his U.S. counterparts that the defense budget has increased, with an aim to spend over 3 percent of GDP.
02:00The cross-party delegation has also met with leading think tanks, the Hudson Institute and Heritage Foundation, and the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, making the most out of their week in the U.S.'s political center.
02:28Scott Huang and Joyce Sen for Taiwan Plus.