Taiwan's Vice Premier has rejected a proposal to split semiconductor production with the US.

This follows claims made by US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to NewsNation in an interview on Saturday, in which he stated that “my objective, and this administration’s objective, is to get chip manufacturing significantly onshored – we need to make our own chips.

“The idea that I pitched [Taiwan] was, let’s get to 50-50. We’re producing half, and you’re producing half.”

Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun, who returned to Taiwan today following trade discussions with Washington, told reporters that this proposal had not been discussed, that Taiwan’s negotiating team had never made any promises regarding this arrangement, and that Taiwan would not agree to this sort of proposal.

Taiwan’s Executive Yuan also issued a statement saying that discussions had revolved around lowering the reciprocal tariff rate, which currently sits at 20 percent, and reducing levies potentially imposed on Taiwanese semiconductor exports to the US under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

An investigation into semiconductors under the act, which enables the US President to impose trade restrictions if it is determined that the import of a good could threaten national security, has been ongoing since April 1. President Trump previously said in early August that this would amount to a 100 percent tariff.

The Trump administration intends to break American reliance on Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing. In August, the government took a 10 percent stake in beleaguered chipmaker and designer Intel, and under the “Big Beautiful Bill,” semiconductor manufacturers that break ground on new chip fabs in the US before the end of 2026 are now eligible for a tax credit of 35 percent.