Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) expressed hope yesterday that tariffs agreements, particularly one on avoiding double taxation, could be signed in the next round of cross-strait talks.
The fourth round of talks between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) is scheduled to be held next month in Taichung.
Lee told a hearing of the legislature’s Finance Committee that the foundation and ARATS negotiators had not discussed the tariffs issues, but would do so before the next SEF-ARATS meeting.
“We hope that the tariff talks will focus on avoiding double taxation and the exchange of taxation information across the Strait,” Lee said in response to questions raised by several legislators about the schedule for signing a tariff agreement.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) asked Lee whether his ministry had talked to or attempted to communicate with Taiwanese businesspeople operating in China about plans to sign a tariff agreement.
Once such an agreement is signed, information about Taiwanese companies, including their financing, would be completely exposed to Chinese tax authorities, the lawmaker said.
“Has the Ministry of Finance given a thought to how Taiwanese operating in China should protect themselves?” Lu asked.
Lee said the proposed cross-strait tariff agreement would not have a negative impact on Taiwanese businesspeople operating in China.
“For example, avoiding double taxation will help them save on taxes, instead of increasing taxes,” Lee said.
The ministry would first seek legislative approval on an amendment before signing any tariff agreement with China, he said.
Meanwhile, the legislature’s
Economics Committee decided yesterday to ask the Executive Yuan to raise the issue of protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the fifth round of cross-strait talks, scheduled for the first half of next year.
Both ruling and opposition legislators on the committee approved a resolution demanding that relevant agencies raise the issue with China.
Their decision was aimed at protecting the IPR of Taiwan’s businesses at a time when many of their trademarks have been pirated by Chinese businesses, legislators said.
The lawmakers also asked that the IPR issue be discussed during next month’s talks.
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
Nintendo Co hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves on Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third-best-selling video game console of all time. However, despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high”
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips. As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly. “We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing
RSS