State-run Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖), the nation’s biggest sugar provider, reiterated yesterday it will indefinitely freeze price hikes on sugar and cooking oil products in response to the government’s policy to stabilize consumer prices.
This came after the company released a statement on its Web site on Thursday evening, denying media reports it planned to raise prices to reflect rising costs.
“Taisugar has no intention of adjusting prices on sugar and cooking oil products in the near future” despite the spike in international commodity costs, company deputy chief executive officer Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥) said.
Government policy and public opinion, in addition to market and cost concerns, have guided the company’s pricing decisions, Chen said.
Chen said Taisugar briefed the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Wednesday on global trends in sugar and cooking oil products and suggested responsive measures. He refused to elaborate and dismissed reports of price hikes as media speculation.
“There is no timetable for price adjustments,” he said. “I can’t say how long the freeze will last depending on public sentiment and government policy.”
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday instructed the Executive Yuan to pay attention to a possible increase in food prices.
The government will “pay -attention” to food prices, said Ma while attending a ceremony at Chi-nan Temple.
Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said the president meets with related government bodies every week to discuss the issue of food prices and supplies of locally produced food.
Government concern over food price hikes is believed to have been the main reason behind Taisugar’s decision to announce a price freeze.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it had reached a consensus with food and beverage associations to help stabilize consumables prices.
“These companies agreed to pass on the costs ‘reasonably’ to the consumer and not to collude in hiking prices or increase inventories to artificially create supply constraints,” the ministry said in a statement after meeting with industry associations.
Manufacturers undertook to take into the account reduced government tariffs on raw materials and the strengthened New Taiwan dollar when determining the prices of consumables, the statement read.
Despite the ministry’s words of comfort, Taiwan Flour Mills Association told the Central News Agency that vendors are under extreme pressure to raise prices.
Citing wheat as an example, the association said it had risen 17 percent in price and reduced taxes would not help defray such costs by much.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS