Taiwan and the UK are holding a new round of trade talks this week focusing on investment and green energy, officials said yesterday, after a deal last year that Taipei hopes would boost global engagement of the tech powerhouse.
Despite a lack of formal ties, Taiwan sees the UK as an important democratic partner, thanks to its concern over stepped-up Chinese military activities near the nation, which Beijing views as its own territory.
The UK also supports Taiwan’s participation in global bodies such as the WHO.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
As a result of its diplomatic isolation and pressure from China, major semiconductor producer Taiwan has few formal foreign trade agreements, although it belongs to the WTO and has free-trade pacts with Singapore and New Zealand.
Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said talks with visiting UK officials in Taipei this week focused on issues such as digital trade, investment, renewable energy and net-zero emissions.
Both sides “do not rule out signing relevant agreements,” OTN spokesperson Benjamin Hsu (徐崇欽) said.
The UK’s de facto embassy in Taiwan said working-level trade officials were in Taiwan this week for talks on the Enhanced Trade Partnership announced last year, but declined to comment on the status of the talks.
In November last year, Taiwan and the UK signed an Enhanced Trade Partnership Arrangement that Taipei hopes would further boost its case to join a major pan-Pacific free-trade pact and bolster the nation’s ties with other European states.
China has expressed its opposition to the arrangement, saying Britain should not “enhance substantive relations” with Taiwan.
Taiwan has long urged the EU, which the UK left in 2020, to sign an investment agreement.
Taiwan has also applied to join the 12-country Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, which the UK joined last year.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
TARIFF CONCERNS: The chipmaker cited global uncertainty from US tariffs and a weakening economic outlook, but said its Singapore expansion remains on track Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進), a foundry service provider specializing in producing power management and display driver chips, yesterday withdrew its full-year revenue projection of moderate growth for this year, as escalating US tariff tensions raised uncertainty and concern about a potential economic recession. The Hsinchu-based chipmaker in February said revenues this year would grow mildly from last year based on improving supply chain inventory levels and market demand. At the time, it also anticipated gradual quarter revenue growth. However, the US’ sweeping tariff policy has upended the industry’s supply chains and weakened economic prospects for the world economy, it said. “Now
RSS