Taipei, Taiwan - Taiwan's government said Saturday it held first tariff discussions with the US and expected more talks to build "strong and stable" trade ties.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said Friday the island was on "the first negotiating list of the US government" as he seeks to shield its exporters from a 32% tariff.

US President Donald Trump this week postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of dollars were wiped off global markets.

Trump has maintained a 10% blanket duty on most countries, but paused plans for steeper measures on others, except China.

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Taiwan's Office of Trade Negotiations said in a statement that its officials held a video conference on Friday with "relevant US officials" without identifying them.

The two sides "exchanged views on Taiwan-US reciprocal tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, and a number of other economic and trade issues including export controls", the statement said.

"Both sides look forward to conducting follow-up negotiations... in the near future and jointly building a strong and stable economic and trade relationship."

Taiwan currently faces a 10% tariff, and Lai said its talks would seek to strike a deal with Washington to bring that down to zero.

Taiwan's trade surplus with the US is the seventh highest of any country, reaching $73.9 billion in 2024.

Around 60% of its exports to the US are information and communications technology products, including semiconductors. Chips were excluded from Trump's new tariffs.