Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) said yesterday that some form of economic framework with China was inevitable to avoid being marginalized.
Without such a framework, industries such as textiles, petrochemicals and heavy machinery would relocate overseas, creating massive unemployment and creating gaps in critical supply chains, Yiin said at the first of 22 public hearings on the government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
“The public misunderstands the Ministry of Economic Affairs and thinks that we’re pro-China. The reality is our biggest trading partner has always been the US, and we know it,” Yiin said.
He said a study conducted by the IMF showed that the Taiwanese and the US’ “economic elasticity was 1.2, which means if the US economy were to rise by 1 percent, our economy would rise by 1.2 percent, and vice versa.”
Yiin told the more than 250 businesspeople attending yesterday’s meeting that an ECFA with China was urgently needed or Taiwan might be left out of any favorable trade agreement with ASEAN and the rest of the world.
Over the past decade, members of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Japan and even India had all signed agreements with China, he said.
Taiwan has not been able to join AFTA. Although it has tried to sign free-trade agreements with countries such as the US, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, its efforts have failed because of pressure from China.
“ECFA is simply a term that is still awaiting approval by the Chinese. Taiwan cannot sign a Closer Economic Partnership Agreement with China because that is a one- country agreement between the mainland and Hong Kong,” he said.
“We cannot sign a free-trade agreement because it would mean allowing a free flow of goods and services between two countries, and Taiwan is not ready at this point,” Yiin said.
Taipei and Beijing are still evaluating the pros and cons of proceeding with such a long-term arrangement and have not even begun direct dialogue yet, he said.
Yiin promised that signing an ECFA would not mean sacrificing Taiwan’s sovereignty because the issue would not even be part of the ECFA discussions.
Chinese agricultural products and workers will not be part of the trade talks, he said.
Representatives of the leather association, shoe association,and the confectionery, biscuit and floury food association voiced concern that the government might balk during trade talks with China instead of protecting their interests, media reports said yesterday.
Taiwan Footwear Manufacturers Association (台灣製鞋品發展協會) chairman Chiao Chien-ho (趙建和) said his group hoped the government would drop the ECFA idea because the pact would damage the industry.
The groups said they wanted written guarantees from the government to protect their industries.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
Nintendo Co hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves on Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third-best-selling video game console of all time. However, despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high”
RSS