Washington stakeholders express sustained support for Taiwan but urge Taipei to demonstrate value through tangible deliverables.

AmCham’s annual Doorknock trip often coincides with important moments in the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. This year’s visit came just months after Washington and Taipei signed the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), which includes significant investment commitments from Taiwan and puts its tariff rate on par with neighbors South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, both governments continue to deepen cooperation on critical technology and trusted supply chains, exemplified by Taiwan’s participation in the Pax Silica initiative.

Over five days and more than 50 meetings with administration officials, members of Congress, think tanks, and industry groups, one key message stood out: Taiwan is increasingly being seen as an indispensable economic, technology, and security partner whose value will ultimately be measured by its tangible contributions to the United States.

“Our discussions with stakeholders in Washington confirmed that Taiwan is a priority,” says AmCham Chairperson Anita Chen, who led the delegation. “The task now is to keep the momentum going in the relationship, by expanding investment, strengthening semiconductor and AI ecosystems, enhancing energy security, and ending double taxation.”

Taiwan remains a priority

Despite lingering uncertainty surrounding tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about holding off on arms sales to Taiwan following his May summit with China’s President Xi Jinping, the delegation found that support for Taiwan remains remarkably strong across Washington. In Congress, several House representatives, senators, and committee staffers highlighted recent pro-Taiwan legislation. Many expressed interest in visiting Taiwan or attracting Taiwanese investment in their respective states.

However, several also acknowledged that some uncertainty regarding the bilateral relationship remains, especially over how the ART will be implemented after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the original justification for Trump’s tariffs — which were brought under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — unconstitutional. The Trump administration has more recently launched trade investigations into Taiwan and dozens of other economies under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, one of which has resulted in a 10% duty on Taiwanese goods. Still, it is unclear whether these investigations will serve as a legal basis for the ART moving forward.

AmCham delegates also noted in the Doorknock discussions that once a framework is decided on in the United States, Taiwan’s legislature would still need to sign off on it — though they expressed reasonable confidence that it would pass, as all three major political parties appear to understand the agreement’s value.

Defense cooperation evolves

Defense and security are another area of uncertainty. In May, Taiwan lawmakers passed a US$25 billion special defense budget, a sum aimed at covering two separate Foreign Military Sales packages from the United States. However, the second of those, valued at US$14 billion, is now being held up by the White House following the Trump-Xi meeting in May.

Some of those the AmCham delegation met with suggested that while Taiwan waits for an approval of that sale, a key task is to continue working through the considerable backlog of weapons already purchased from the United States, including delayed F-16 fighter jets and Stinger missiles. Progress on those deliveries would be considered to send a reassuring signal to Taipei.

Defense discussions moved well past traditional arms sales, to Taiwan’s budding drone industry and how it can work with U.S. partners to advance uncrewed systems technology. Both Taiwan and U.S. companies have expressed interest in co-development and co-production schemes for drones and other weapons. But members of the AmCham delegation noted limits on where Taiwan could export such weapons due to its lack of diplomatic relations with most countries. They also pointed to the United States’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which prohibit certain military technologies from being shared overseas.

ADTA on the horizon

AmCham’s main request of Washington this year — to pass legislation providing for an avoidance of double taxation agreement (ADTA) with Taiwan — featured in virtually every meeting of the Doorknock trip.

In its presentations, the Chamber delegation argued that getting a deal in place would spur further job-creating investment in the United States from large companies like TSMC. Critically, though, an ADTA would also encourage Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for more than 90% of the island’s businesses, to expand overseas — some of them for the first time.

In addition, such an agreement would also help dispel “U.S.-skepticism” narratives in Taiwan by reinforcing the view that the United States is a committed and reliable economic partner.

Early last year, the House passed the United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act nearly unanimously. A Senate version was then introduced in that chamber’s finance committee, but the bill has been stalled there ever since. And while both officials and lawmakers professed their strong support for an ADTA, they noted that procedural obstacles remain a key issue.

Nearly everyone agreed that passage of a standalone bill by unanimous consent in the Senate would be very difficult in the current Congress, mainly due to objections from Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is opposed to tax treaties in principle. Several expressed some hope for the period following the U.S. mid-term elections in November. However, the key factor in whether this would be possible is Senate floor time, which most acknowledged is very difficult to obtain for tax-related legislation.

The other main option would be to find a suitable legislative vehicle to fold the tax measure into, including what is known as a reconciliation bill. But the rules governing such legislation require that every provision includes a measure of the impact on federal revenue, which a potential Taiwan tax agreement lacks. One Congressional staff member suggested that a year-end appropriations bill might offer the best opportunity, noting that must-pass government funding legislation would be more difficult for a single senator to block.

Despite frustration that ADTA legislation has still not passed, Congressional staff members noted that it’s closer to enactment than at any previous point, stressing that years of bipartisan work had solved most substantive policy questions. They urged continued engagement with senators by proponents of the legislation to find a way past the remaining obstacles.

A growing consensus

Overall, conversations at Doorknock meetings reflected the growing consensus in both Washington and Taipei that economic security is now national security, and that Taiwan is an indispensable partner in adapting to this new reality. Nowhere is that clearer than in Taiwan’s central role in the global AI revolution.

“Taiwan is emerging as a full-stack AI partner for the United States and other like-minded countries,” says AmCham Chair Anita Chen. “It’s investing heavily in renewable energy, strategically deploying data centers, and co-developing bleeding-edge AI architecture. These efforts position Taiwan as an ‘AI fortress,’ capable of providing a secure ecosystem for advancing new tech.”

The AmCham delegation noted that, given Taiwan’s strengths and the surge in bilateral investment and trade — with overall trade reaching US$256 billion last year, making Taiwan the United States’ fourth-largest trading partner — economic relations between the two sides have entered a “golden age.” The delegation urged continued engagement with Taiwan, including progress toward an ADTA, to help sustain this strong momentum.

Still, administration officials conveyed that Taiwan could make the best case for itself through concrete actions that demonstrate its value to the United States. Examples include continued investment, increased purchases of American products to reduce the trade deficit, and thorough implementation of existing economic and commercial agreements.

Moving forward, AmCham plans to keep working closely with its members and partners in the Taiwan and U.S. governments to find new, actionable ways to deepen the economic relationship and resolve pain points. As the 2026 Doorknock made clear, that work will require sustained commitment and contributions from both sides.