TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s technology sector could play the role of partner in the Trump administration’s plans to “re-industrialize” the US, a senior presidential official said Wednesday.

Asked about how Taiwan could respond to the imposition of a 32% tariff, Presidential Office Deputy Secretary General Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said one of the choices was to import more from the US, including natural gas, Radio Taiwan International reported. Taiwan is already planning to increase the import of liquefied natural gas from Alaska.

In an interview with online media Yahoo! TV, Chang said industry in the US and Taiwan faced similar problems, including the dumping of low-price products. During the upcoming tariff talks with the US, Taiwan should promote the role of its manufacturing, high tech, and information and communication sectors, according to the official.

Chang added that the motto “Taiwan Can Help” was useful in this context. This applied to whether one could say Taiwan was assisting the US, playing a complementary part, or planning a win-win situation.

As to future trade and tariff talks with the Trump administration, the official said Taiwan possessed advantages, but would not reveal them too early. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) would follow the advice from tech business leaders he received during talks on April 5, when they reportedly told him to “let the missiles fly by first,” according to Chang.