Two surveys of commodity prices yesterday revealed that the prices of four kinds of household goods have increased slightly following the government’s announcement in April of increases in fuel and electricity rates.
Consumers’ Foundation chairwoman Joann Su (蘇錦霞) said her group’s collaboration with the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Commission in conducting the surveys aimed to examine whether prices of household goods have risen because of the fuel price hike on April 2.
Among the 10 kinds of household goods surveyed, the average prices of washing powder, shower gel, toothpaste and tissues sold at major hypermarkets and supermarkets were found to have increased slightly between March and last month.
According to survey results from the commission and foundation respectively, the average prices of washing powder increased by 5.4 percent and 2.8 percent; those for shower gel rose 3.5 percent and 5.2 percent; toothpaste by 2.9 percent and 2.5 percent; and tissues by 2.5 percent and 6.5 percent.
Commission Director-General Liu Ching-fang (劉清芳) said the long-term price trend of the 10 kinds of household goods was still stable and reasonable and the increases could not be directly attributed to the rise in fuel and electricity prices.
However, Liu said there were three cases that aroused suspicion in the surveys.
The first suspect case was the sudden increase in the price of a brand of tissues sold at a hypermarket from NT$149 per pack in March to NT$176 per pack last month, which will be reported to the Fair Trade Commission for further examination.
The second case was a brand of eggs that remained at the same price of NT$57 a box for 16 months, with only one promotional price of NT$54 in June last year.
Liu said it was suspected that the lengthy sales promotion was used to deceive consumers about its original price.
“It’s like a store attracting consumers who seek a good bargain by claiming it is having a clearance sale, but the store is still there after two years, and the promotional price is actually the original price,” Su said.
The third case concerned whether the slightly reduced price of milk powder (an average price drop of between 0.1 percent and 1.8 percent between March and last month) was in line with the reduction on import duties on milk powder from 5 percent to 2.5 percent, Su said.
Commission Deputy Director-General Wu Cheng-hsueh (吳政學) said that although the survey results of the commission and the foundation showed similar patterns of roughly stable prices, consumers should compare prices of the same commodity between brands when shopping instead of always relying on the same brands, to save more money.
The commission has a toll-free line, 0800-007-007 for the public to report price gouging, while the Consumers’ Foundation welcomes such reports on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/price0601.
Additional reporting by CNA
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS