Officials from Taiwan and the US held their first day of free-trade talks yesterday, with the discussion focusing on rice imports and the opening of Taiwan's telecommunications market, the Board of Foreign Trade said in a press release.
The US delegation, led by Scott Ki, a US Trade Representative official charged with overseeing Taiwan affairs, also included officials from the State Department, Trademark Office, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture and the American Institute in Taiwan.
Taiwanese representatives included officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Council of Agriculture, the Directorate General of Telecommunications, the Department of Health, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Assistant US Trade Representative Joseph Papovich will be arriving in Taiwan tomorrow and will engage Taiwanese officials in discussion on intellectual property rights on Friday.
Taiwan hopes the talks will culminate in the signing of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), signifying a free trade pact between Taiwan and the US.
In the first day of the three-day talks, US officials urged Taiwan to adjust its quota system on imported rice, in line with WTO standards.
US officials also expressed concerns over Taiwan's new rice-import system, which goes into effect next year, the statement said.
According to the Council of Agriculture, a ceiling for imported rice was set at around 144,700 tonnes last year. Under the WTO, Taiwan is required to renew its negotiations with other member states annually.
The council recently proposed maintaining the import quota at 144,700 tonnes annually -- imposing tariffs on any amount that exceeds that figure.
Further liberalization of the domestic telecommunications market will also be discussed. US representatives would like Taiwan to continue to open up its fixed-line market to foreign investors, the statement said.
US representatives also urged Taiwan to set up an independent authority to monitor telecommunications -- one that would be free from government interference.
Talks today will focus on the pharmaceutical industry.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS