The government should demand retailers of bulk commodities cut their prices to reflect falling global prices, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday.
Although the global prices of bulk commodities such as wheat, soybeans, rice and corn have dropped sharply, consumers have not benefited because retailers have not lowered their prices accordingly, said Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁), acting foundation chairman.
The price of bread and noodles remained high even though global flour prices had fallen significantly, Hsieh said.
In addition, most of the special zones set up by six supermarket and hypermarket chains for fair-price goods have not provided sufficient information and have only featured a few items, he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau said the factory price of flour dropped to NT$499.26 per 22kg package in the middle of last month from NT$584.04 per package in April. But as the price of flour products is linked to the purchasing behavior of wholesalers and pricing strategy of retailers, it is not appropriate for the government to interfere in the market economy, the bureau said.
However, the bureau said it would ask the Consumer Protection Commission to examine operations of the fair-price special zones.
However, commission official Liu Ching-fang (劉清芳) said the special zones were set up in accordance with administrative guidelines but not subject to regulation.
Given the sluggish domestic economy, there is a need to maintain the special zones, Liu said, although such space had shrunk to make room for promotional campaigns during the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Chung Yuan ghost festival.
She said the commission would provide the latest issue of Consumer Reports Magazine to the six supermarket and hypermarket chains to encourage them to keep their commitment to help consumers cope with surging prices.
UNCERTAINTIES: Exports surged 34.1% and private investment grew 7.03% to outpace expectations in the first half, although US tariffs could stall momentum The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast to 3.05 percent this year on a robust first-half performance, but warned that US tariff threats and external uncertainty could stall momentum in the second half of the year. “The first half proved exceptionally strong, allowing room for optimism,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “But the growth momentum may slow moving forward due to US tariffs.” The tariff threat poses definite downside risks, although the scale of the impact remains unclear given the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s policies, Lien said. Despite the headwinds, Taiwan is likely
When Lika Megreladze was a child, life in her native western Georgian region of Guria revolved around tea. Her mother worked for decades as a scientist at the Soviet Union’s Institute of Tea and Subtropical Crops in the village of Anaseuli, Georgia, perfecting cultivation methods for a Georgian tea industry that supplied the bulk of the vast communist state’s brews. “When I was a child, this was only my mum’s workplace. Only later I realized that it was something big,” she said. Now, the institute lies abandoned. Yellowed papers are strewn around its decaying corridors, and a statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin
UNIFYING OPPOSITION: Numerous companies have registered complaints over the potential levies, bringing together rival automakers in voicing their reservations US President Donald Trump is readying plans for industry-specific tariffs to kick in alongside his country-by-country duties in two weeks, ramping up his push to reshape the US’ standing in the global trading system by penalizing purchases from abroad. Administration officials could release details of Trump’s planned 50 percent duty on copper in the days before they are set to take effect on Friday next week, a person familiar with the matter said. That is the same date Trump’s “reciprocal” levies on products from more than 100 nations are slated to begin. Trump on Tuesday said that he is likely to impose tariffs
Japan is heavily investing in a new kind of ultra-thin, flexible solar panel that it hopes will help it meet renewable energy goals while challenging China’s dominance of the sector. Pliable perovskite panels are perfect for mountainous Japan, with its shortage of flat plots for traditional solar farms. A key component of the panels is iodine, something Japan produces more of than any country but Chile. The push faces some obstacles: Perovskite panels contain toxic lead, and, for now, produce less power and have shorter lifespans than their silicon counterparts. Still, with a goal of net zero by 2050 and a desire to
RSS