TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's leading industrial association has mobilized to defend the island's export-driven economy against punitive American trade measures. The Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFL, 全國工業總會), Taiwan's most influential manufacturing coalition, presented a comprehensive counterstrategy on Monday to address the recent tariff increases announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. The federation's announcement comes as Taiwan's government intensifies its own response efforts, with the Executive Yuan (行政院), Taiwan's cabinet, having already formulated initial policy interventions. The industrial body's statement acknowledged that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) had previously outlined five specific countermeasures during his public address on Sunday, indicating coordination between public and private sector approaches.
The industrial federation emphasized the necessity of public-private collaboration to successfully navigate the complex challenges presented by the shifting international trade environment. According to their statement, CNFL leadership has established robust communication channels with specialized industry associations representing Taiwan's critical manufacturing sectors, including machinery, machine tools, electronics, petrochemicals, hand tools, and the island's technology-focused science parks. Beyond coordinating the private sector response, the federation directed specific recommendations to government policymakers, urging them to adopt a holistic economic approach that would preemptively address potential secondary effects of the trade dispute, including imported inflation, market destabilization, and unpredictable fluctuations in raw material availability and pricing.
The federation's strategic recommendations included practical measures to streamline financial relief mechanisms, with particular emphasis on simplifying subsidy application procedures to ensure rapid assistance delivery to manufacturers most severely impacted by the tariffs. The CNFL document advocated for organizing targeted industry-specific forums where government officials could provide detailed explanations of available support policies while simultaneously collecting real-time feedback from affected businesses. In a more proactive approach to addressing the fundamental trade imbalance at the heart of the dispute, the federation proposed establishing a dedicated "U.S. Procurement Team" tasked with identifying and expanding opportunities to purchase American goods and services, potentially reducing Taiwan's substantial trade surplus with the United States through increased imports.
Looking beyond immediate crisis management, the industrial body emphasized the importance of maintaining Taiwan's competitive edge through continued investment in research and development while simultaneously pursuing market diversification strategies to reduce dependency on any single export destination. The federation highlighted the critical need for enhanced talent development programs specifically designed to address emerging technological challenges, including digital transformation initiatives, artificial intelligence applications, and the ongoing transition toward net-zero carbon emissions across industrial sectors. On the financial front, the CNFL articulated clear expectations that government monetary authorities — specifically the Ministry of Finance (MOF, 財政部) and the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC, 金管會) — would implement measures to maintain adequate market liquidity, ensuring that manufacturers can access necessary capital throughout the potentially turbulent adjustment period.
