Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) on Friday told lawmakers that the ministry was aware of eight recent instances of Chinese-made socks being falsely labeled and sold as socks made in Taiwan.
Shen made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) said that she had received complaints about potentially falsely labeled socks from manufacturers in Changhua County’s Shetou Township (社頭), where sock manufacturing is a major industry, amid rising imports of socks from China and uncannily few sightings of socks labeled as made in China.
Are the instances Shen referred to only the tip of the iceberg? How many more products made in China are being passed off as made in Taiwan?
The unscrupulous practice is an assault on several levels.
On a personal level, people who prefer locally manufactured products either for their quality or for political reasons would likely not be happy about being duped into adding to the GDP of a hostile nation.
On a national level, the authorities should crack down on companies that import China-made products and slap fake labels on them. It is not only an act of fraud, but undermines local manufacturers, especially as merchandise sporting the “Made in Taiwan” label is generally considered more desirable than those made in China, and often sell for higher prices.
Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) in May suggested establishing a free economic zone in the city, sparking concern among politicians and academics that it would allow products made in China to be shipped to Taiwan and re-exported, thereby avoiding the hefty tariffs imposed by the US.
The Executive Yuan has since proposed an amendment to the Foreign Trade Act (貿易法), which seeks to raise the maximum fine for falsely importing and labeling Chinese-made products and re-exporting them to NT$3 million (US$98,065).
However, even without a free economic zone, a slew of incidents involving falsely labeled Chinese goods being re-exported were recorded from January to July, Taipei customs officials said last month.
That included more than 100kg of diodes sold to a US customer, the officials said.
This is a much more serious offense than selling falsely labeled Chinese products domestically. With approved investments redirected home by Taiwanese businesses operating in China having topped NT$610 billion last month and expected to reach NT$800 billion before the end of this year, the government would be doing itself a disservice if it tolerates self-serving businesspeople indirectly helping Beijing in its trade dispute with the US.
Until steeper penalties are approved by the Legislative Yuan, the authorities should act now to ensure that no falsely labeled Chinese products are re-
exported to a third country and that no local businesses are doing the dirty work of Chinese companies for profit.
Just as the National Development Council and other agencies should investigate where apps developed by foreign companies are sending users’ personal information, so should the ministries of economic affairs and finance team up with local governments to launch a comprehensive investigation into how many Chinese-made products are being passed off as made in Taiwan and mete out punishments under existing rules.
Although this would be a gargantuan task, it would be in the interests of consumers, local industries and ultimately the nation, especially at a time when China is using its economic clout to silence critics and undermine democracy worldwide.
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