TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan will send a deputy minister to the US to persuade the Trump administration not to impose 100% tariffs on the country’s semiconductor exports, Economics Minister Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) said Saturday.

He said Taiwan had always respected intellectual property rights and the two countries operated in different sectors of the semiconductor industry, per CNA. According to several media reports, after dealing with China, Canada, and Mexico, President Donald Trump is expected to impose tariffs on products from other countries next week.

Kuo said the Ministry of Economic Affairs would send at least a deputy minister to Washington to explain the issue to officials in Trump’s entourage. Some opinions were the result of insufficient communications, the minister added. 

Kuo said the ministry was prepared for any kind of situation. However, he could not say more at the moment as this would mean giving away Taiwan’s trump cards, Kuo said.

Though Kuo did not reveal who would be traveling to the US, it is thought to be the deputy economics minister in charge of trade, Cynthia Kiang (江文若). Industrial Development Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Pei-li (陳佩利) is expected to accompany her to Washington.