Taiwan Helped U.S. Develop AI, Yet Placed on Section 301 List
China Times Report, March 13, 2026
Taiwan has been off the United States Special 301 list since 2009, and it has been 17 years since it last appeared on it. Most people no longer know what “301” is. From 1989 to 2008, Taiwan was on the list almost every year, appearing on various lists such as the Priority Watch List, the Watch List, and other observation lists. Taiwan therefore has extensive experience with it.
What is 301? It is entirely related to the trade surplus. The larger the surplus with the United States, the greater the pressure of retaliation. Section 301 originated from Section 252 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which authorized the president to retaliate against unfair foreign agricultural trade barriers. Through amendments in 1974, 1979, and 1984, the scope of trade retaliation expanded from agricultural products to non-agricultural products and intellectual property rights. The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 created Super 301 and Special 301: the former focuses on market opening, tariff reductions, and import licensing, while the latter closely monitors intellectual property rights.
The United States has always believed that countries enjoying large trade surpluses with it must have unfair trade practices. If tariffs are not too high, then the market must not be sufficiently open; otherwise, there must be violations of U.S. intellectual property rights. Once listed, a country must submit an action plan to reduce its trade surplus with the United States. From 1990 to 2008, Taiwan frequently submitted such action plans.
Under Special 301, Taiwan was long required to amend its Patent Act, Trademark Act, and Copyright Act. It also had to establish an export software monitoring system and a trademark export monitoring system. The United States also once used Super 301 to question whether the National Health Insurance Administration’s procurement of medical equipment was fair. In short, after Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States exceeded $10 billion in 1985, troubles began from that point onward. In 2008, Taiwan’s surplus with the United States dropped to $3.5 billion, the lowest level in thirty years. The following year Taiwan finally exited the 301 list. By 2018 our surplus with the United States was only $6.4 billion, so 301 gradually faded from public memory.
Since 2019, Taiwan’s surplus with the United States has again exceeded $10 billion. Unexpectedly, last year it rose to $150 billion. Within just a few years the surplus multiplied, which naturally attracted the attention of the United States. According to U.S. Customs statistics, in 2024 Taiwan was the eighth-largest source of the U.S. trade deficit; last year Taiwan had already risen to fourth. How could Taiwan avoid being named?
Taiwan may feel aggrieved. The information and communications products Taiwan exports to the United States are all helping the United States develop artificial intelligence (AI). The United States should thank us; how can it investigate us? In fact, since the 1980s Taiwan always thought this way. But Section 301 does not care about that. The United States always believes that a trade deficit means you are buying too few American goods, and that there must be import restrictions, excessively high tariffs, or infringement issues.
In the first two months of this year, Taiwan’s surplus with the United States approached $20 billion. This is a warning sign. If Taiwan cannot diversify markets and reduce dependence on the United States, then Taiwan must be prepared to purchase more American goods. The massive surplus allowed Taiwan’s economy to grow by 8 percent last year, but it has also brought back the pressure of Section 301. The government should draw lessons from the negotiation history of the 1990s in order to reduce the potential impact on Taiwan.
From: https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20260313000170-260202?chdtv