Rock Hsu (許勝雄), founder and president of local electronics conglomerate Kinpo Group (金寶集團), yesterday urged the government to protect Taiwan’s semiconductor industry during its negotiations with the US.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the Taiwan Venture Capital Summit in Taipei, Hsu said that the semiconductor industry needs protection, as it has played a critical role in Taiwan’s economic development.
The government should balance seeking lower tariffs from the US and other economic benefits by not making too many concessions during negotiations with Washington that would hurt Taiwan’s global competitiveness, he said.
Photo: CNA
It was understandable that Taiwan would have to pay a price to get a lower tariff, but the negotiating team should know how to protect the country’s interests, he added.
In the first seven months of this year, semiconductors accounted for 32.3 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales with a value of US$109.78 billion, up 23.5 percent from a year earlier, Ministry of Finance data showed.
On Monday, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who led a Taiwanese delegation to the talks with the US, said that the government would continue the negotiations to bring down a blanket tariff, currently set at 20 percent.
Hsu said that many Taiwanese firms are either investing or planning to invest in the US market, where they face challenges such as high production costs and a wide cultural gap.
The US has to be aware that it is not easy to duplicate Taiwan’s 24-hour-a-day work culture, he said.
Old economy industries, such as the machinery and textile industries, also need protection, he said, adding that the government should cap the New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation to mitigate the impact of US tariffs.
The Taipei-based Chinese National Federation of Industries (全國工業總會) said that the government should freeze an electricity rate hike scheduled for September and postpone carbon fee collections, which are scheduled to start next year, to ease the business sector’s financial burden.
The government should allow the NT dollar to depreciate by at least 10 percent to raise exporters’ competitive edge, the federation said.
In addition to the 20 percent tariff, the levy has been added to pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy tariffs from Thursday last week.
The government’s negotiating team has vowed to seek a tariff stacking relief during talks with the US.
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