TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan plans to buy more soybeans from the US instead of from Brazil, US Senator Pete Ricketts said Wednesday.

The chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy visited Taiwan April 16-19. Following the Trump administration’s plans to impose tariffs on a wide range of imports, countries with a trade surplus have signaled their intention to buy more US goods.

Ricketts said in a radio interview Wednesday that during his visit, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told him Taiwan wanted to buy more soybeans from the US instead of from its other main supplier, Brazil, per CNA. He added that to be fair, Taiwan was already buying many US products, but he was hoping America could sell them even more.

Ricketts said that Taiwan was hoping the US could reduce taxes for Taiwanese investors, adding that talks about the subject are continuing.

Taiwan imports 2.58 million metric tons of soybeans per year, with the US and Brazil as its main suppliers. To reduce its trade surplus with the US, Taiwan has also been expressing an interest in importing more liquefied natural gas from Alaska.