Taiwan's chipmakers are waiting to hear from Washington about tariffs of anywhere from 25%-100%. Taiwan's government is optimistic, but there's still uncertainty in the air.
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00:00For Taiwan's semiconductor factories, a bump in the road could come any day now, maybe even any hour.
00:06The Trump administration says it could put tariffs of 25 to 100 percent on imported semiconductors.
00:12When the Trump administration put up its tariff plan for public comment, there were just 10 responses about chips.
00:17Far fewer, for example, than the roughly 300 that came in about lumber tariffs.
00:22Some observers think Trump's administration will take this as a green light for chip tariffs to move ahead.
00:26And it could get worse for Taiwan if Trump takes on a request from Seoul to exempt South Korean chips from levies.
00:33Details of a final decision may come from Washington this week, though when is hard to say.
00:39On top of this, the U.S. Department of Commerce plans to study the feasibility of ramping up domestic chip production to meet American needs.
00:46The whole situation could prove tough for a Taiwanese industry that relies on exports.
00:56Taiwan's government, though, seems optimistic.
01:09But for now, everything is up in the air for an industry that just prior to Trump's election
01:30had predicted production value would grow 16.5 percent in 2025, breaking 192 billion U.S. dollars.
01:37Taiwan's chip makers may soon need to re-evaluate this year's prospects
01:50and work out strategies to mitigate the impact of whatever tariffs the U.S. decides on.
01:55Andy Xue and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.