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.”
Taiwan’s long-term economic competitiveness will hinge not only on national champions like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) but also on the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, a US-based scholar has said. At a lecture in Taipei on Tuesday, Jeffrey Ding, assistant professor of political science at the George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers," argued that historical experience shows that general-purpose technologies (GPTs) — such as electricity, computers and now AI — shape long-term economic advantages through their diffusion across the broader economy. "What really matters is not who pioneers
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned. Completed early this year and undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, according to two people with knowledge of the project. EUV machines sit at the heart of a technological Cold
TAIWAN VALUE CHAIN: Foxtron is to fully own Luxgen following the transaction and it plans to launch a new electric model, the Foxtron Bria, in Taiwan next year Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said that its board of directors approved the disposal of its electric vehicle (EV) unit, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) for NT$787.6 million (US$24.98 million). Foxtron, a half-half joint venture between Yulon affiliate Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co (華創車電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), expects to wrap up the deal in the first quarter of next year. Foxtron would fully own Luxgen following the transaction, including five car distributing companies, outlets and all employees. The deal is subject to the approval of the Fair Trade Commission, Foxtron said. “Foxtron will be
INFLATION CONSIDERATION: The BOJ governor said that it would ‘keep making appropriate decisions’ and would adjust depending on the economy and prices The Bank of Japan (BOJ) yesterday raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest in 30 years and said more increases are in the pipeline if conditions allow, in a sign of growing conviction that it can attain the stable inflation target it has pursued for more than a decade. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda’s policy board increased the rate by 0.2 percentage points to 0.75 percent, in a unanimous decision, the bank said in a statement. The central bank cited the rising likelihood of its economic outlook being realized. The rate change was expected by all 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The
RSS