The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei yesterday urged the government to resume its delayed Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks with the US because the timetable was “now,” AmCham chairman Alan Eusden said during the launch of the chamber’s annual Taiwan White Paper.
Eusden said he would talk to officials in the US and at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to try to “get the TIFA talks started hopefully by the end of this year.”
The AmCham chairman called on both governments to put aside differences over the US beef imports issue.
The chamber urged Taiwan to balance its trade ties with the US so it will not beecome overly dependent on China.
It also said the newly signed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) — while important — “is not in itself enough to restore Taiwan’s luster as an investment destination.”
Taiwan needs to improve its domestic business climate before it “might once again receive the kind of ‘buzz’ it enjoyed as one of the ‘Asian Tigers,’” said Eusden, president of Corning Display Technologies Taiwan Co.
In the White Paper, titled Aspire to Greatness, AmCham made 165 recommendations in 22 sectors.
While lauding the government’s executive restructuring plan, the chamber pointed a finger at the National Communications Commission, calling it “aloof with no strong leadership,” Eusden said.
In the infrastructure sector, the chamber said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) hyped target to lower the nation’s carbon emissions in 2025 to 2000 levels was “unachievable” — unless emissions from all sectors are cut to zero — based on the committee’s calculations, Paul Lee (李雨朴), co-chair of AmCham’s infrastructure committee, told the yesterday’s presentation.
Lee urged the government to consider building coal-fired power plants — what he called the second-best choice to nuclear power plants and US$300 million cheaper each than gas-fired plants.
In terms of the nation’s tax competitiveness, the chamber called on the government to narrow the gap between the lowered corporate income tax rate, at 17 percent, and individual income tax rates.
Without taking neighboring countries’ tax rates into consideration, Taiwan’s 40 percent top rate for individual income taxes should be lowered to below 34 percent, less than double the corporate income tax rate, Eunice Kuo (郭心傑), co-chair of the chamber’s tax committee, said at the presentation.
Turning to its requests to Washington, AmCham said it was time for the US to dispatch Cabinet-level officials to visit Taiwan since the last such visits occurred more than a decade ago.
AmCham also urged Washington to prepare to grant visa-waiver treatment to Taiwanese travelers, noting that Taiwan is the US’ ninth-largest trading partner.
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