The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei yesterday called on the government to adopt a more effective approach to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by forming a task force to accelerate progress.
The group’s call came after the nation’s efforts to become a candidate for second-round entry have remained in limbo over the past year.
As the 12-member trade bloc is likely to be formed next year, Taiwan needs to take decisive action to establish its credibility for trade liberalization, AmCham said.
Photo: CNA
“We are really worried that Taiwan will be marginalized [economically] as the world is moving forwards,” AmCham chairman Thomas Fann (范炘) told a press conference as the group issued its annual White Paper, adding that the China-South Korea free-trade agreement took effect this week, while the US is in talks with the EU over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
“Participating in a big trade organization will be a good way [to avoid such a risk],” Fann said.
The TPP represents a huge market, as the 12 economies involved produce more than 40 percent of global GDP, he said.
Joining the trade bloc would also help Taiwan reduce its reliance on China and rebalance its trade long term, he added.
In the White Paper, AmCham suggested that the Executive Yuan could create a TPP task force to ensure that the individual ministries and agencies carry out the necessary reforms.
The task force should oversee communications with the public and the legislature to build a sense of national mission behind TPP accession, it said.
Fann said the government should tap a high-ranking government official to lead the task force.
A political heavyweight with national recognition, such as former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), would be an ideal candidate, he said.
AmCham also warned that no invitations would be issued to join the TPP as some government agencies and private think tanks seem to imagine.
“Would-be candidates must apply,” the business group said in the White Paper.
Of the 12 members of the TPP, Taiwan has signed free-trade agreements with just New Zealand and Singapore, Fann said.
Taiwan needs to accelerate its efforts to become qualified by holding talks with those countries to solve existing, or potential, trade disputes, he said.
“Joining the TPP would make Taiwan a springboard for foreign companies to enter the trade bloc,” Fann said.
In response, the National Development Council said that as the government already has an international trade and economic task force, it would not consider forming another one.
The task force is convened by Vice Premier Simon Chang (張善政) every two to three months.
It requires ministries to report the latest progress on efforts to join the TPP, the council said.
The council said the government would continue deepening structural reforms and improve the business-related legal system in a bid to create a better environment for joining regional economic pacts.
“We hope the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei continues to voice its support for Taiwan participating in the TPP second-round negotiations,” the council said.
Additional reporting by Lauly Li
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS