A 32 percent tariff on most goods from Taiwan is the latest in a string of confusing signals from the Trump administration that has Taipei wondering where it stands.

Taiwan can have negotiations with the United States at any time on the tariffs issue, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said on Tuesday, as the island's stock market steadied having plummeted the previous day on trade fears.

Taiwan's hopes that it can come to a quick agreement with the United States to resolve the tariffs issue and last weekend already approached Washington to discuss the issue, a senior Taiwanese official said on Wednesday.