Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of the Republic of China FY2026 central government budget on August 14, 2026. The original total expenditure was set at NT$3.0349 trillion, with a net reduction of NT$48 billion after deliberation.
Regarding the Executive Yuan's six-year, NT$44.2 billion "Unmanned Vehicle Industry Development Coordinated Program," the Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party caucuses co-sponsored a resolution requiring the Executive Yuan to instruct the Ministry of Economic Affairs to allocate the NT$44.2 billion evenly over six years, with annual spending not exceeding the average amount.
The Kuomintang caucus stated its full support for developing the drone industry and strengthening national defense, noting that the Ministry of Economic Affairs' six-year NT$44.2 billion program plus NT$19.2 billion in procurement budgets across Executive Yuan agencies, totaling NT$63.4 billion, were all approved and excluded from the 1.5% across-the-board budget cut.
The resolution stated that the Executive Yuan approved the six-year (FY2025-2030) program with NT$44.2 billion in public budget funds, coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs across agencies to build a drone industry promotion mechanism. It cited the need to strengthen domestic drone industry capacity and supply chain resilience to create a democratic supply chain Asia-Pacific hub, noting that annual funding should not fluctuate significantly.
The resolution further specified that apart from defense military drone procurement, other agencies' non-military drone procurements may follow the Common Supply Contract Implementation Regulations to prevent duplicate budget allocations or privileged subcontracting to evade oversight. Any new unmanned vehicle projects added during the program period must be approved by the Executive Yuan before implementation.
Separately, the US government announced on August 13, 2026, that it would impose tariffs on globally imported unmanned aircraft systems and components pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, with Taiwan's relevant products subject to a 15% tariff not stacked on MFN. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has facilitated ITRI as the sole overseas Green UAS certification site and the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre in connecting with Blue UAS certification to help manufacturers meet US requirements.
