A Heritage Foundation fellow said on Wednesday in a report that US businesses generally support the signing of a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the US and Taiwan and that such an agreement is long overdue.
The US, for its benefit, should sign an FTA with Taiwan the sooner the better, John Tkacik, a senior research fellow in China, Taiwan and Mongolia policy in the foundation's Asian Studies Center wrote in an article that was published on-line on Wednesday titled Free Trade with Taiwan is Long Overdue.
A US-Taiwan FTA has a lot to offer for everyone and promises to be more beneficial to US exports than to Taiwan's exports, Tkacik said, adding that a US-Taiwan FTA has the potential to boost US jobs in key manufacturing industries, with autos and business equipment topping the list.
US manufacturers of other machinery and equipment, especially office equipment, engines, turbines, communications equipment, appliances and an array of industrial control computers would enjoy similar increases in exports if a US-Taiwan FTA were signed, he said.
Meanwhile, he said, Taiwan is an important global power in its own right. Taiwan is now the world's 16th largest economy, the 10th largest trading power and the "third-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves after China and Japan."
He said Taiwan has a larger population than Australia and a larger GDP than any ASEAN member. For the past two decades, he said, Taiwan has consistently ranked as one of the US' top 10 export markets and it already gives fairly free access to imported US goods and services, which totaled US$23 billion last year.
Among other things, a US-Taiwan FTA would increase US rice, poultry and livestock exports and open a significant new market for new research medicines, he said.
US pharmaceutical companies would also gain, given the openness of Taiwan officials in discussing National Health Insurance pharmaceutical reimbursements, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it