Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday agreed to deliver a report to the legislature on the impact of US tariffs on the economy and the Executive Yuan’s countermeasures.
In reaction to US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, the stock market posted its biggest intraday plunge at the opening yesterday.
Cho at 2pm convened a meeting at the Executive Yuan with the legislative caucuses of all parties to discuss national affairs, with a focus on the US tariffs facing Taiwan.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
An attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, said Cho, in response to being asked to make a report to the legislature, agreed and said that the date for the report could be decided via a cross-caucus negotiation.
He added that the legislature should allow more time for the Executive Yuan to observe stock market fluctuations and conceive optimal strategies before making the report, they said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) told reporters after the meeting that the US’ “reciprocal” tariffs could be considered a national crisis that requires prompt resolution, as the policy battered the stock market and threatens almost all industries nationwide.
Cho should report on the situation at the legislature to make known what industries are severely impacted and what the countermeasures would be, he said.
The KMT caucus would do its best to provide assistance and expect the government to use not only the special budget of NT$88 billion (US$2.66 billion), but also the NT$143.9 billion budget cuts to support affected industries, he said.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the TPP caucus would prioritize the national interest and help evaluate whether the Executive Yuan’s strategies are feasible in resolving the problems.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) did not attend the meeting due to a tight schedule, but he sent a notice for a cross-caucus negotiation to be held this afternoon to discuss the matter.
In a related development, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君), tapped to head the negotiation team as President William Lai (賴清德) looks to seek more preferable tariffs with Washington, yesterday said that aside from seeking to lower the tariffs on some goods, an agricultural procurement team would be sent to the US in August and September to conduct procurement, which is expected to scale up.
The industrial procurement team, which has been suspended, would also be resumed, she said.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS