More Than 1,000 Firms Join Tariff Suits as Court Ruling Looms

Taiwan reported a record annual trade surplus with the US, a figure that could complicate the two sides’ already drawn-out tariff negotiations.
The surplus with the US for 2025 was $150.1 billion, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance on Friday. That was easily more than double the $64.7 billion the year prior — underscoring the massive demand for Taiwan’s advanced chips and servers as American tech companies build AI infrastructure.
Imports from the US grew only 3.2% on-year in 2025 — the lowest outside of pandemic years since 2016 — to $48.2 billion.
The figures may make talks with Washington trickier for officials in Taipei — and there were already signs of turbulence. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has indicated he supported the Trump administration’s goal of reindustrializing the US but said American land, electricity and talent policies were needed so projects could move ahead. Taipei has also pushed back on a request to move chip production to the US to cover half of America’s demand.

Taipei has signaled for months that the discussions with the US — its biggest military backer as China ramps up its claims to the democracy — were in the home stretch but a final pact has proven elusive. It said in the summer that the original 20% tariffs levied by President Donald Trump were temporary but has watched as competitors Japan and South Korea secured lower rates. 
Taiwan’s exports surged to record levels in 2025. More than 60% of the shipments, like the advanced chips that are Taiwan’s specialty, are exempt from US duties while the Trump administration conducts a probe into imports of a range of key goods.
Highlighting the torrid pace of exports, Taiwan also said Friday that outbound shipments rose 43.4% on-year in December, though that fell short of the 48% median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.
The US said earlier its trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in October to the smallest since 2009 on a sharp pullback in imports, notably pharmaceuticals. The goods and services trade gap shrank 39% from the prior month to $29.4 billion, Commerce Department data showed Thursday.
The latest Taiwan trade surplus figures come with the US Supreme Court poised to decide the fate of most of Trump’s tariffs as soon as Friday.
More than 1,000 corporate entities are now involved in the legal fight, court records show, teeing up an unprecedented struggle over what happens next if the administration loses. They speak with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.
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