Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said yesterday that recent movements in various indicators showed that Taiwan’s economy will be strong this year.
Addressing the opening ceremony of a job fair in Taipei, Shih expressed confidence that Taiwan’s economy has recovered and employment is rising.
“Taiwan’s economy should be strong this year,” Shih said, citing many economic indicators.
FORECASTS
Shih said the IMF expected Taiwan to achieve GDP growth of 6.5 percent this year, and the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) has forecast the economy to grow by at least 5 percent.
If those forecasts prove correct, Taiwan’s economic growth will outpace that of the other Asian Tigers — Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore — Shih added.
In addition, Shih said the value of export orders and industrial production both set a new high last month, indicating that Taiwan’s economy is growing at a fast pace, which will contribute to increasing jobs in the private sector.
A total of 507 companies participated in the job fair organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs for enterprises in northern Taiwan, where more than 35,000 jobs were offered.
Taiwan’s unemployment rate dropped last month to 5.67 percent, down 0.09 percentage points from the previous month, with the unemployed total at 624,000, down 10,000.
EARLY HARVEST
Separately, Shih said that Taiwan and China were likely to complete an “early harvest list” in the fourth round of bilateral talks on a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA).
“Taiwan and China will be able to fix the major items to be included on the list in their third-round talks, which may take place in late April or early May,” Shih told reporters.
“Therefore, the two sides are expected to settle the ‘early harvest list’ in the fourth talks, and it could be published if both sides agree to do so,” he added.
The “early harvest list” is a list of items that would enjoy an immediate reduction or elimination of tariffs after (and if) an ECFA is signed.
The priority tax cut list is the centerpiece of the agreement, which the government says will help Taiwan avoid marginalization amid increasingly integrated trade in the region.
Shih said the machinery, textile, petrochemical and transportation industries, as well as a few categories of information-related products, will be included on the “early harvest list” to be put forth by his ministry.
“One thing is for sure, Taiwan’s ‘early harvest list’ will be more comprehensive than China’s,” he added.
This means that the number of items and their total export value will certainly be higher than China’s because of the difference in the size of the two markets, he said.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
RSS