WHEREAS, the United States and Taiwan enjoy a robust trading partnership; and  

WHEREAS, American and Taiwanese industries are highly complementary, and a bilateral trade agreement would facilitate cross-border commerce ensuring mutual market access and enabling legal harmonization in digital trade, intellectual property, medical device standards, and many other areas; and  

WHEREAS, there are opportunities to grow US-Taiwan bilateral trade with respect to digital trade, state-owned enterprises, and standards which will facilitate trade in sectors with economic and strategic significance; and  

WHEREAS, there are opportunities to grow US-Taiwan bilateral trade by enhancing trade In agricultural products which could lead to expanding US agricultural exports to Taiwan; and  

WHEREAS, in 2024 Taiwan was America’s 7th largest trading partner and the United States was Taiwan’s 2nd largest trading partner; and  

WHEREAS, U.S. goods exports to Taiwan in 2024 totaled $42.3 billion, up six percent ($2.4 billion) from 2023; and  

WHEREAS, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has committed to deepening economic ties with the United States, highlighting his country’s desire to work with the White House to build supply chains free of PRC influence as well as for Taiwan to purchase US goods including energy, agricultural and industrial products, and military equipment; and

WHEREAS, Taiwan has maximized foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States and 40% of Taiwan’s outbound goes to the US making our nation the primary destination for Taiwan’s investors with the construction of semiconductor manufacturing facilities (fabs) in the United States including an advanced fab in Arizona, investment for which expanded from $12 billion to $165 billion representing the largest FDI in a greenfield project in American history. Manufacturing semiconductors domestically secures US international supply chains to these vital items; enhances the domestic artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain; while creating American jobs (3,000 in Arizona alone) with competitive salaries and contributing to America’s economic growth; and

WHEREAS, a Taiwanese state energy firm signed a letter of intent in March 2025 to buy Alaskan liquefied natural gas (LNG) and to invest in the project, a move that will ensure Taiwan’s energy security and represents a $44 billion investment in US LNG; and

WHEREAS, currently, Taiwanese goods face a 10% tariff with the potential for a blanket 32% tariff if a settlement is not reached with the White House; and

WHEREAS, tariffs should be minimized for countries that exhibit a sincere effort to invest in the United States of America especially in strategically significant sectors like semiconductors, AI and other emerging technologies and where this FDI serves as an American job creation engine; and

WHEREAS, Taiwan is an exceedingly vibrant and dynamic democracy, described as a “democratic beacon of hope” for the Indo-Pacific, serving as a key trading partner and strategic ally to the United States, ranking as the 4th freest economy in the world according to the 2025 Index of Economic Freedom; and  

WHEREAS, in addition to robust US-Taiwan trade, Taiwan occupies a strategically pivotal position in the Asia-Pacific as part of the First Island Chain, a line of islands along China’s Pacific coast; and  

WHEREAS, the United States and Taiwan have enjoyed long-standing partnership with the shared common values of freedom, democracy, and human rights; and  

Therefore, be it resolved, that lawmakers from this state support and urge the President of the United States to prioritize trade negotiations between our two likeminded democracies.