President Trump’s announcement on Thursday of a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the United States comes when ties between Taipei and Washington are already particularly strained.

特朗普总统周四宣布，对台湾出口至美国的商品征收20%的新关税，此举正值台北与华盛顿之间的关系已然异常紧张之际。

Days earlier, Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, called off plans to stop in New York and Dallas during an upcoming trip to Latin America at the urging of the Trump administration. Taiwan’s leaders typically use such transit stops as a way to show its ties with the United States, invariably drawing protest from China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory.

数天前，在特朗普政府的要求下，台湾总统赖清德取消了原定在前往拉美途中过境纽约和达拉斯的计划。台湾领导人通常会利用这种过境安排来展示与美国的关系，这样的举动总会引发中国的抗议，它声称台湾是其领土的一部分。

Now, Taiwanese officials acknowledged that weeks of talks by their negotiators in Washington had not led to a trade deal like the ones struck by Japan and South Korea. And a bigger threat still loomed, as the United States weighed the possibility of putting damaging tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan’s main exports.

现在，台湾官员承认，他们的谈判代表在华盛顿进行了数周的谈判，但没有达成像日本和韩国签署的那种贸易协议。随着美国权衡对台湾主要出口产品半导体征收破坏性关税的可能性，更大的威胁仍在逼近。

These possible tariffs on chips were part of the continuing talks between the two sides, Taiwan’s cabinet, the Executive Yuan, said in a statement on Friday.

台湾行政院在周五的一份声明中表示，潜在的半导体关税是双方持续谈判的一部分。

“Both sides have expressed their commitment to continue negotiations,” the statement said.

声明写道：“双方团队都肯定谈判进度持续推进。”

On Friday, Taiwanese officials played down the new tariff rate, saying the two sides had simply not yet concluded the talks. Negotiators from Taiwan have spent the past two weeks in Washington trying to hammer out a deal, their fourth such visit since Mr. Trump first announced so-called reciprocal tariffs in April.

上周五，台湾官员淡化了新的关税税率，称双方只是尚未结束谈判。过去两周，台湾的谈判代表一直在华盛顿努力推动协议的达成，这是自特朗普今年4月首次宣布所谓的对等关税以来，他们第四次访问华盛顿。

The United States has been the largest buyer of Taiwan’s exports since late last year, according to government data. But for most of the past three decades, it was China.

根据政府数据，自去年年底以来，美国一直是台湾出口产品的最大买家。但在过去30年的大部分时间里，中国才是台湾的最大买家。

“The United States is of vital importance to Taiwan’s economic and trade development,” Mr. Lai said at a briefing on Friday.

“美国对台湾经贸发展当然重要，”赖清德在周五的简报会上表示。

Taiwan’s main exports are chips and related products. Taiwanese companies make a vast majority of the world’s advanced semiconductors, the tiny computer chips needed to power electronics from smartphones to artificial intelligence.

台湾的主要出口产品是芯片及相关制品。台湾企业生产了世界上绝大多数先进的半导体，这种微型计算机芯片是从智能手机到人工智能等各种电子产品的核心部件。

Semiconductors typically enter the United States as components in electronics like A.I. servers. Experts say it is difficult to put tariffs on the industry because its supply chain is so complex and specialized.

半导体通常作为人工智能服务器等电子产品零部件的形式进入美国。专家表示，很难对该行业征收关税，因为其供应链非常复杂和专业化。

Taiwan would seek to receive preferential treatment under whatever decision is reached regarding semiconductor specific tariffs, the Executive Yuan said.

行政院表示，无论就半导体特定关税达成何种决定，台湾都将寻求获得优惠待遇。

Officials and businesses in Taiwan have been trying to soften the blow of Washington’s tariff threats. In March, Taiwan expressed interest in buying natural gas from a long-stalled project in Alaska. Weeks earlier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest chipmaker, said it would spend $100 billion in the United States to expand its operations in Arizona.

台湾的官员和企业一直在试图减轻华盛顿关税威胁的打击。今年3月，台湾表示有兴趣从阿拉斯加一个长期停滞的项目购买天然气。几周前，全球最大的芯片制造商台积电表示，将在美国投资1000亿美元，扩大其在亚利桑那州的业务。

Mr. Trump praised TSMC’s investment when he announced the initial round of tariffs in April. But since then, Taiwan’s neighbors Japan and South Korea have agreed to investments that are several hundred billion dollars larger.

特朗普在4月份宣布首轮关税时曾经称赞台积电的投资。但从那以后，台湾的邻国日本和韩国同意对美国进行多于台积电数千亿美元的投资。

Analysts said this might be one of the sticking points in the continuing negotiations.

分析人士表示，这可能是正在进行的谈判的症结之一。

“We have not, like Japan and South Korea, committed massive investments,” said Darson Chiu, director-general of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“我们没有像日本和韩国那样承诺大规模投资，”亚太商工总会执行长邱达生表示。

No trade deal has been announced in part because of Washington’s time constraints, the Executive Yuan said. Taiwan had to fit its discussions into “a limited time frame, given that the U.S. was concurrently negotiating with multiple countries,” the statement said.

行政院表示，之所以尚未宣布任何贸易协议，部分原因是美国方面的时间限制。声明说，“由于美方与许多国家同时进行谈判”，台湾必须在有限时程内进行磋商。

Mr. Trump previously said Taiwan had gained an unfair dominance in making semiconductors and had accused the country, which depends on the United States for political support against China’s claims, of spending too little on its own security.

特朗普此前曾表示，台湾在半导体制造方面获得了不公平的优势，并指责这个依赖美国政治支持来对抗中国主张的国家在自身防务上的投入太少。

“Negotiations always require both giving and receiving,” said Jun-ji Shih, an economist who was vice premier of Taiwan during Mr. Trump’s first term in office. “Trump’s negotiations were completely free of giving — the United States gave nothing.”

“谈判总是需要双方互惠互利，”曾任特朗普首个任期内担任台湾行政院副院长的经济学家施俊吉表示。“特朗普的谈判完全没有让步——美国什么都没给。”