Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te, on Monday, indicated that the first round of trade talks with the Trump administration has gone "smoothly." That's a hopeful note, especially given that Taiwan is a major manufacturer of semiconductors - which are essential in the operation of almost everything these days.

The first round of talks between representatives of Taiwan and the U.S. was held on Friday.

Taiwan's first phase of tariff talks with the United States went "smoothly" and the government hopes to take this challenge as an opportunity to promote a new Taiwan-plus-the-United States layout for trade, President Lai Ching-te said Monday.

Major semiconductor producer Taiwan had been due to be hit with a 32% tariff by U.S. President Donald Trump, until he put all tariffs ex-China on hold for talks to take place.

Taiwan and the United States on Friday held their first direct talks about the tariffs.

The Chinese Communist Party is liable to become maladjusted on this news. As of this writing, the Trump administration hasn't engaged in any open talks with the Middle Kingdom.

Taiwan, on the other hand, sounds downright optimistic. 

Speaking to representatives from university alumni associations at the presidential office in Taipei, Lai said Taiwan has overcome challenges before and has to work to turn crises into opportunities to transform the island's economy.

"Taiwan has started negotiations with the United States, and the first phase of the negotiations went smoothly," his office cited him as saying.

Lai said he "hoped to use this challenge as an opportunity for Taiwan to promote the new layout of 'Taiwan plus one', that is, Taiwan plus the United States."

It's not clear if the "Taiwan plus one" comment indicates that President Lai is looking for some kind of exclusive arrangement. It's unlikely in the extreme that the Trump administration would be open to any exclusive arrangement, and Taiwan surely knows this, especially with all of the overtures being made to the U.S. by countries around the world.

Taiwan is, however, expected to seek a zero-tariff arrangement with the United States. These talks come at a sensitive moment, as mainland China has become increasingly aggressive towards not only Taiwan but also towards the United States and our Pacific allies. China has been conducting extensive military drills in the waters around Taiwan and still insists that Taiwan is not a legitimate nation in its own right.

See Also: Intel Sources Claim China Plans Attack on Taiwan in 'Next Few Months'

This Is Huge: Trump Has Brought in $7 Trillion in Investment Into the US

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced in March the investment of another $100 billion in developing semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. This is on top of a previous $65 billion investment.

To date, over 50 nations have reached out to the Trump administration, wanting to talk about trade deals. The other Pacific nations to have reached out include South Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Australia. This may well have the effect of isolating China, and it's difficult to predict what effect that may have on the CCP leadership..

As of this writing, the White House has not made any official response to Taiwan. We will be watching for any statement re: Taiwan and will update you as events warrant.

It sure looks, once again, like all this is starting to work.

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