Taiwan’s GDP growth this year is expected to decrease by 0.43 to 1.61 percentage points due to the effects of US tariffs, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday, citing a preliminary estimate by a private research institution.
Taiwan’s economy would be significantly affected by the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs slapped by the US, which took effect yesterday, Liu said, adding that GDP growth could fall below 3 percent and potentially even dip below 2 percent to 1.53 percent this year.
The council has commissioned another institution for further assessments of the economic impact and the nation’s growth outlook, he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics in late February forecast Taiwan’s GDP to expand 3.14 percent this year.
Asked by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) whether the government would increase its planned NT$88 billion (US$2.67 billion) relief fund for local industries, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said the total would remain unchanged for the time being, but could be adjusted higher for affected sectors as appropriate.
In response to a question by DPP lawmaker Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) about tariff negotiations with the US, Kuo said Taiwan maintains good relations with Washington and the outlook for the negotiations looks promising.
The government has formed a task force led by Vice Premier Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君), which includes officials from the National Security Council (NSC), the Office of Trade Negotiations and Executive Yuan agencies, as well as academic and industry representatives.
NSC Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said that Taipei has already approached Washington to discuss the tariffs, hoping it can come to a quick agreement between the two sides.
Speaking to reporters at the Legislative Yuan, Tsai said the government’s position was not to take retaliatory measures, but to come up with more specific solutions.
President William Lai (賴清德) has instructed officials to initiate “strategic communication” between Taiwan and the US, he added.
“Last weekend, we used channels to talk to the US to reflect our position on Taiwan-US tariff negotiations and some of our proposals,” Tsai said, without giving details.
Separately, Kuo said that the economic ministry would expand its one-stop service center and assemble a team of consultants to offer practical solutions to traditional industries as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking assistance.
“We will require our one-stop service center and consulting team to respond to companies’ questions within one day, and make sure to provide them with practical and tailor-made solutions,” the minister told lawmakers.
To expand support for exporters, the ministry has also agreed to increase preferential loans and loan guarantees, provide subsidies for companies' R&D and business transformation, and help firms win overseas orders, Kuo said.
In addition, the government would abolish the requirement of a 15 percent revenue decline for industries applying for government financial aid or loans, allowing more firms to deal with the impact of the US tariffs, he said.
Taiwan is home to 1.68 million SMEs, accounting for 98.9 percent of all businesses and providing more than 9 million jobs, the ministry’s data showed.
The nation’s traditional manufacturing sector, dominated by producers of metal products, machinery and plastics, accounts for more than 90 percent of the total value of the manufacturing industry and generates NT$11.24 trillion in total production value, ministry data showed.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS