Taiwan moved a step forward yesterday in its attempts to engage regional trading partners after New Zealand agreed to launch a joint study on the feasibility of an Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA).
The New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office (NZCIO) in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Wellington made an announcement on the joint study decision, which followed the completion of independent studies commissioned in October.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said both sides submitted their independent studies to each other on Nov. 25, and the results showed that an ECA would help expand export markets and benefit consumers of both countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) welcomed the progress, saying that it believed both sides would soon enter into negotiations on an ECA because their economic relationships were highly complementary and there was potential for further growth.
The NZCIO said in a press release that the joint study process would involve consultation with businesses in both New Zealand and “Chinese Taipei.”
Taiwan was New Zealand’s 11th-largest export market last year, and New Zealand was Taiwan’s 41st-largest trading partner.
New Zealand’s leading exports to Taiwan include dairy products, beef, fruit, timber and electrical components, while tech products account for more than half of Taiwan’s exports to New Zealand, government statistics showed.
Meanwhile, Taiwan and Singapore began formal talks on a similar trade deal earlier this year after they completed a four-month feasibility study.
Asked by reporters yesterday on the progress of a Taiwan--Singapore deal, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said the negotiations were proceeding smoothly.
He said the Taiwan-Singapore pact was a comprehensive trade deal that involves a number of -sectors such as services and trade, and that negotiations of some sectors were near conclusion.
He declined to speculate as to whether all negotiations would conclude next year and both sides would sign the pact.
In addition to Singapore and New Zealand, Taiwan is working with India and Indonesia on independent feasibility studies for similar agreements, with the Philippines being the next country to follow suit, MOFA Minister Timothy Yang (楊進添) said in October.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
RSS