Trump’s impact on wind sector limited by sole term, Taiwan says

Taiwan’s economic minister said the impact of Donald Trump in certain areas will be somewhat limited because he can only serve a single term, rare frank comments that show how governments around the world are gaming out the president-elect’s return to office.

“Trump will only be in office for four years and can’t run for another term so his impact will be limited,” Economic Minister Kuo Jyh-huei said at a press briefing Friday in Taipei. He made the comments in response to a reporter’s question about negative things Trump has said about the wind power industry — a sector Taiwan’s government is keen to develop.

Trump cannot run again because U.S. law limits presidents to two terms, regardless of whether they are consecutive, and he previously served from 2017-2021.

Officials in Taipei are somewhat nervous about Trump’s return to the White House because they rely on U.S. military support to deter China from invading and their trade surplus with the U.S. could make Taiwan a target for tariffs.

The Republican has suggested the archipelago “should pay” the U.S. for its defense and cast doubt over whether the U.S. would defend the self-governed democracy of 23 million from any Chinese attack, as President Joe Biden repeatedly pledged.

Also, in a July interview with Bloomberg Businessweek before the U.S. election, Trump accused Taiwan of taking “about 100% of our chip business.”

In the briefing Friday, Kuo said the government in Taipei would support moving supply chains related to the automobile and information and communications technology industries to the U.S. because they would be impacted the most of any sector in Taiwan by tariffs.

Earlier, Taiwan’s central bank suggested stepping up purchases of U.S. energy, agricultural goods and military equipment — moves that could ward off Trump’s tariff threats. The bank’s governor, Yang Chin-long, has also said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s investments in the U.S. might help alleviate its trade imbalance with the world’s largest economy, and other Taiwanese companies could consider following suit.