By 總統府, Attribution,
Taiwanese President William Lai announced intentions to increase defense expenditure to at least 3% of GDP by 2025, just hours after US President Donald Trump restated his intention to put tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductor imports, according to the Taipei Times.
Speaking at a news conference in Taipei on Wednesday after his first high-level national security meeting of the year, Lai said the government would submit a special budget to reach the 3% target. In response to mounting threats from authoritarian governments, he emphasized Taiwan’s commitment to protecting its sovereignty, strengthening its self-defense capabilities, and improving national security.
The decision to increase defense spending is consistent with Taiwan’s overall efforts to enhance its strategic position while resolving trade deficits with the US. Washington has approved $26.26 billion in weaponry sales to Taiwan during the last eight years, with $18.76 billion authorized during Trump’s first term, which ran from 2017 to 2021, according to Lai. He emphasized Taiwan’s commitment to speed up military modernization and enhance defense cooperation with the US.
When questioned if Taiwan risks becoming a mere “pawn” in the current US-China geopolitical competition, Lai refuted the idea, saying, “We are a player, not a pawn.” Taiwan is an integral member of both the global and regional communities.
Lai’s comments came after Trump’s remarks in Washington earlier in the day, in which he repeated his commitment to putting duties on chip imports, according to the Taipei Times.
After signing a presidential memorandum, Trump said Taiwan had “taken our [the US’] chip business away” and emphasized that the proposed economic measures would encourage “fair” and “reciprocal” trade. The duties, which could go into force as early as April, are intended at decreasing the United States’ trade deficit with many countries, including Taiwan.
Taiwan has continuously been among the top ten countries contributing to the US trade deficit. During his presidential campaign, Trump encouraged Taiwan to considerably raise its defense budget and pay more to its security cooperation with the United States.
Under former President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s defense expenditure increased gradually, from NTD 365.8 billion ($11.2 billion) in 2016 to NTD 606.8 billion last year. However, it fell short of Tsai’s promised 3% GDP target. Lai’s proposed spending hike will need legislative approval before it can be implemented.
The Cabinet has allotted NTD 647 billion for national defence in the current fiscal year, which equals 2.45% of GDP. However, the opposition-led legislature has already reduced the budget by NTD 8.4 billion and frozen another NTD 89.9 billion, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics, Taipei Times said.
The final decision on the central government budget is still unresolved, with MPs yet to finalize their changes after implementing significant cuts and expenditure freezes.
