Taiwan and the US have agreed to begin negotiations on cooperation in the area of e-commerce, a development that can be seen as a precursor to the resumption of bilateral talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), Minister without Portfolio Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) said in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Taiwan and the US signed the TIFA in September 1994, but Washington has suspended bilateral talks under this framework several times since 1998.
The e-commerce cooperation negotiations between the two countries are likely to serve as stepping-stone to TIFA talks, Yiin said.
Since Taiwan signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China, it has been stepping up efforts to forge free-trade agreements (FTA) with other countries, Yiin said.
Earlier this month, it reached an agreement with Singapore to explore the possibility of signing an economic cooperation agreement.
At the APEC ministerial meetings, Taiwan’s proposal to start FTA talks with other countries has been warmly received, Yiin said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan and China have agreed to start negotiations on agreements on trade in products and services as well as investment and dispute resolution within six months after the ECFA takes effect, he said.
The arrangements for trade in goods and services “should not be too difficult” given that 20 to 30 percent of products in Taiwan and China have already been granted tariff-free treatment under the ECFA and the fact that most information technology products are also eligible for zero tariffs under the WTO framework.
In the area of investment, there is no big difference of opinion between Taiwan and China, he said.
Addressing fears that certain local industries would suffer as a result of the ECFA, Yiin said that the government would stick to its promise to delay further trade liberalization in some areas to give vulnerable industries time to adjust and upgrade.
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
TikTok abounds with viral videos accusing prestigious brands of secretly manufacturing luxury goods in China so they can be sold at cut prices. However, while these “revelations” are spurious, behind them lurks a well-oiled machine for selling counterfeit goods that is making the most of the confusion surrounding trade tariffs. Chinese content creators who portray themselves as workers or subcontractors in the luxury goods business claim that Beijing has lifted confidentiality clauses on local subcontractors as a way to respond to the huge hike in customs duties imposed on China by US President Donald Trump. They say this Chinese decision, of which Agence
RSS