“What’s natural for Taiwan is we produce 95 percent” and “we feel great about it,” Lutnick said, conceding that “you can imagine when someone has 95 percent, convincing them that they should only have 50 percent. That’s a lot” to lose.

But “Donald Trump would say it’s not healthy for you or healthy for us because we protect you, and for us to protect you,” then “you need to help us achieve… reasonable self-sufficiency,” Lutnick argued.

To close the deal with Taiwan, Lutnick suggested that the US would offer “some kind of security guarantee” so that “they can expect” that moving their supply chain into the US won’t eliminate Taiwan’s so-called “silicon shield,” where countries like the US are willing to protect Taiwan because “we need their silicon, their chips, so badly.”