Taiwan and the US are likely to move toward negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) after Taipei announced that it would ease restrictions on imports of pork and beef from the US, economists said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday announced that the government would allow imports of pork containing the controversial feed additive ractopamine and beef from cattle older than 30 months.
Those concessions have eliminated some of the main barriers the US has cited as impeding the possibility of closer trade ties, government officials said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺) on Friday said that opening up Taiwan’s market to imported pork with traces of ractopamine and beef from older cattle would be “very beneficial” regarding Taiwan’s intentions to establish a BTA with the US.
US officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, welcomed Taiwan’s plan to allow pork with ractopamine, which is expected to take effect on Jan. 1 next year.
Their responses reflected a tacit agreement between Taiwan and the US, signaling that bilateral trade relations could progress further in the near future, Lee Chun (李淳), deputy director of the Taiwan World Trade Organization and Regional Trade Agreements Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院), said on Saturday.
It would come as no surprise if the US were to announce a plan to begin negotiations on a BTA with Taiwan, Lee said.
In May, the US became Taiwan’s second-largest export market for the first time in 11 years, and because of improved trade ties, particularly in the semiconductor and 5G industries, Lee said that bilateral ties could be boosted.
Lee said if a trade deal were to be signed, Taiwanese businesses would benefit from zero or preferential tariffs on exports to the US.
The machinery sector could be one of the beneficiaries, he said.
Taiwanese machine makers have already seen exports to the US increase as demand has grown because of Washington’s push to bring manufacturing back to the US, he said, adding that being able to ship machines duty-free would give local exporters an additional edge in the market.
A trade deal could also provide additional protection to Taiwanese investment and would be conducive to establishing regular, systematic dialogue between Taiwan and the US, Lee said.
CIER vice president Wang Jiann-chyuan (王健全) said that signing a trade pact with the US would be of great importance to Taiwan’s export-oriented economy.
It would benefit all industries that export products to the US market, including the steel, petrochemical, textile and consumer product sectors, and might even make other countries more willing to sign trade pacts with Taiwan, Wang said.
Darson Chiu (邱達生), an analyst at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院), said that after signing a BTA with the US, Taiwan would have a better chance of participating in multilateral trade pacts, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
RSS