The Executive Yuan today is expected to approve draft amendments to the Foreign Trade Act (貿易法) aimed at preventing companies from shipping China-made products to Taiwan to receive a “Made in Taiwan” (MIT) certificate of origin, an anonymous source said.
The amendments were published last month by the Bureau of Foreign Trade amid an ongoing US-China trade dispute.
To evade US tariffs on Chinese goods, a number of products from China destined for the US have been found making stopovers in Taiwan to gain an MIT label to conceal their source, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said last month.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
Under the amendments, firms found guilty of illegally exporting “strategic high-tech goods” to non-restricted regions, applying and using false certificates of origin, illegally transferring goods, labeling false countries of origin or disturbing trade through undue means would face a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$3 million (US$1,929 to US$96,432), up from NT$30,000 to NT$300,000.
The amendments would also introduce a system to reward people who report breaches, which would prevent false labels from prompting foreign inspections of Taiwanese firms, and affecting the overall interests and reputation of domestic industries, the source said.
The act has not been amended in 10 years, they added.
Domestic businesses have said that the current fines are not high enough to prevent firms from illegally changing their products’ country of origin, they said.
The bureau last year began requiring stricter management of certain goods, including solar power products, bicycles, and metal screws and nuts.
It previously found that solar photovoltaic products made in China and exported to Taiwan had been labeled as being from Vietnam, the source said, adding that it now requires to see certificates of origin when goods are imported to Taiwan.
The bureau has also established a monitoring system for bicycle parts, about which domestic businesses have expressed concern, they said.
If the prices of the imports are too low, the bureau would look into the matter through the industry’s association and customs, they added.
Since last year, the bureau has been cooperating with customs to remind businesses that goods on which the US has raised tariffs need to fulfill the MIT requirements to receive an MIT certificate of origin, they said.
To receive a certificate, the goods would need to have increased in value by 35 percent from when they were imported to when they were processed and exported, they added.
The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday said it has deployed its largest vessel and an aircraft to challenge a Chinese research ship operating off northern Batanes near Taiwan, adding that a Chinese coast guard vessel had also moved in. The Philippine operation “disrupted the vessel’s unauthorized marine scientific research and compelled it to leave its loitering position,” said Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson on South China Sea issues. The Philippine Coast Guard said the BRP Teresa Magbanua and an aircraft were deployed to counter the Chinese vessel, which it said had remained about 37 nautical miles northwest of Itbayat Island since Monday. The
PLEA: How the UN addresses Taiwan’s security issue would be a test of its strength and relevance, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine told the UN General Assembly Only Taiwan’s elected government can represent the people of Taiwan, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine said on Friday at the UN General Assembly, calling for the nation’s inclusion in the UN. Taiwan and its 23 million people are a reality, and only its democratically elected government can represent it, Heine said when addressing the 81st session of the UN General Assembly General Debate. Appropriate ways must be found for Taiwan’s substantive participation in UN meetings if the UN is to be truly inclusive and effective in years to come, she said. UN member states would experience pressure to accept a
RESILIENCE: Keeping the defense industry’s assembly lines open would prove essential should the nation be involved in a prolonged conflict, a source said The Ministry of National Defense has prepared a NT$22 billion (US$692.3 million) program to acquire about 200 improved Hsiung Feng anti-ship missiles from next year to 2035, a source said. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a high-ranking defense official said the ministry’s plan for enhanced-capability Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III missiles would be funded as part of the regular defense budget. The 200 missiles would be added on top of the 1,400 missiles being funded via the Sea-Air Combat Power Improvement Plan, they said. The program is not about padding missile numbers, but expanding the capability to defeat
RUNWAY: Analysts said the first aircraft landing is expected by the middle of next year, while Chinese state media said it would serve civilian needs Chinese construction of a runway on Antelope Reef (Lingyang Reef, 羚羊礁) in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), is well under way with analysts estimating it could be completed by the middle of next year, strengthening Beijing’s military control over the disputed South China Sea. Satellite images reviewed by Reuters show grading work, piles of gravel and concrete, and compaction cranes in operation to build a full-scale runway that military attaches and security analysts say could be one of China’s most important offshore bases in the region. The images, taken on Friday last week by commercial satellite imagery provider Vantor, also show
RSS