Membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement is a matter of “life and death” for Taiwan, former minister of economic affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) told a Washington conference on Tuesday.
He said that Taipei was “desperate” to join the TPP and urged the US to support Taiwan’s struggle to get a foot in the door.
Chen, now chairman of Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技), is in Washington with a powerful and large delegation — led by former vice minister of economic affairs and head trade negotiator Francis Liang (梁國新) — to attend the Select USA Investment Summit.
At the same time, the delegation is meeting with US political and business leaders to lobby for TPP support.
Liang, now chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 貿協), told the Carnegie Endowment conference on Taiwan’s economic role in the Asia-Pacific region that trade opportunities for those outside the TPP network would “disappear or be drastically reduced.”
While Taiwanese officials have frequently stressed the importance of TPP membership, they have not previously used such dramatic language.
Former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director Doug Paal, now director of the Asia program at Carnegie, moderated the conference and said that TPP negotiations were “moving quietly below the surface” at Capitol Hill.
Twelve countries, including the US and Japan, are now negotiating the launch of the TPP free-trade agreement and Taiwan hopes to join in a second round of expansion talks set to start after the initial launch.
Liang said that if Taiwan does not become a member of TPP, the nation’s businesses would face 6 to 10 percent tariffs, while their competitors enjoy duty-free treatment in the same vital markets.
He said the 12 countries involved in the initial TPP negotiations represent more than one-third of Taiwan’s current foreign trade.
“Not being a member would have a severe impact,” Liang said. “It is not a choice for us — it is an imperative.”
Liang said there are some domestic challenges and reforms needed for Taiwan to qualify for TPP membership, but that they could be dealt with.
He said that Taiwan needed the “open, clear and strong support” of the US.
“We are here to send a very strong message to the US; to urge the US to support Taiwan to join the TPP as soon as possible,” Chen said.
He said Taiwan feels “isolated and marginalized” because it has not been able to join other free-trade agreements and that the TPP is essential for Taiwan to maintain the momentum of trade liberalization.
“We are here to convince the US that it is not only in the interests of Taiwan, but also in the interests of the US to support Taiwan’s membership in TPP,” Chen said.
“We need the US to take a leadership role in supporting Taiwan,” he added. “We are ready to put everything on the table.”
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Taiwanese prosecutors suspect that three people successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, people familiar with the matter said. The trio was detained last week by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc servers containing advanced Nvidia chips, which the US has barred from sale to China without a license from Washington. The move marked Taiwan’s first public crackdown on AI chip diversion after years of pressure from the US to take a more active role in curtailing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) employee bonuses are likely to grow more than 30 percent this year, in line with the past few years as the company’s profits continue to set new records, an anonymous source cited TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) as saying yesterday. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is committed to taking care of its workers, the source said, citing Wei’s meeting with employees yesterday morning. Wei also expressed gratitude to employees for their contribution to the company’s improving bottom line, the source added. Since 2023, TSMC’s employee bonuses have grown at an annual rate of
RSS