The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has finalized its early harvest list for the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
Petrochemicals, textiles, automobiles and components, panels and machinery are the five major industries on the list, with the total number of items not exceeding 500.
Sixteen of the so-called “sensitive industries” would either not be included on the list or Taiwan would negotiate with Beijing to not reduce their import tariffs for the next 10 years, the ministry said.
Chinese herbal medicine, agricultural medicine, printing and wooden goods are four industries added to the list of 12 “sensitive industries” that would be hit hard if similar products were imported from China in massive volumes with low or zero tariffs. The cheaper prices would threaten these industries, which include home electronics, swimwear, garments, furniture, towels and shoes, the ministry said on Wednesday.
Whether the import tariff level would continue after 10 years would be assessed at a later time, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the ministry also announced a budget of NT$95 billion (US$2.9 billion) over the next 10 years to be used to assist industries that would need to transform, risk reduced competitiveness or close as a result of an ECFA.
The ministry said the pact would help boost Taiwanese exports to China and bring more tax revenues to the nation, benefiting companies and the public as a whole.
An ECFA is included in the discussion topics for the fourth round of cross-strait high-level talks to be held in Taichung on Dec. 22.
Formal negotiations on an ECFA are scheduled to begin next month and the inking of the agreement is expected in the fifth round of cross-strait talks next year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day