Taiwan has become the most important trading partner for the US because of AI, but the fast-growing trade gap could make it a political target for the Trump administration.

• Monthly trade between the two countries has jumped to about $30 billion, up from $7-8 billion not long ago.
• AI is treated in Washington as the new space race against China, and Taiwan is essential to any US AI policy.
• US tariffs exempt servers, chips, and AI components, so about 75% of Taiwan's exports to the US go untaxed — which is exactly why the gap keeps widening.
• The US deficit with China and the EU is shrinking while Taiwan's is growing, putting Taiwan on track to be the biggest deficit country this year.

Outlook: Economically the deficit means little, but politically it could push Taiwan to the center of the next round of US trade pressure.