Executive Yuan vice president Zheng Lijun returned to Taiwan from the US on an EVA Air flight this morning and told reporters at Taoyuan International Airport that her team had not once agreed to the supposed 55 per cent chip export condition.

“I think this is the idea of the US side, our negotiation team has never made a commitment to chip 55 points, please rest assured, this time we did not discuss this issue, we will not agree to such conditions, please rest assured,” Zheng said.

The figure has been floating about Washington for months, with some US trade lobbyists and politicians pushing for guaranteed access to at least 55 per cent of Taiwan’s semiconductor output.

This has been interpreted in Taipei as a thinly veiled attempt to ringfence supplies of advanced chips for American manufacturers, particularly for defence and AI kit.

Zheng stressed that the talks in Washington were about reciprocal tariffs, ensuring Taiwan was not saddled with extra charges on top of existing 20 per cent temporary rates, and negotiating preferential treatment under Article 232 trade provisions.

She added that cooperation on supply chains with the US Commerce Department was ongoing, with more product categories creeping under the scope of Article 232 investigations.

Once consensus is reached on tariffs, preferential treatment and supply chains, a summary meeting will be called to hammer out a broader Taiwan-US trade agreement.

The Executive Yuan said it would brief the public officially once progress reached a stage worth reporting. Taiwan and the US began negotiations with a video call on 11 April, followed by face-to-face meetings in Washington on 1 May, 25 June, 8 July, and a fourth round stretching from late July into early August.