Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan.
Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung.
In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the tariffs, and both sides would continue negotiations based on the principle of mutual benefit, Cho said.
The US is not only concerned with “reciprocal” tariffs and non-tariff barriers, but has also emphasized the issue of “origin laundering,” Cho said.
“Origin laundering” refers to the deceptive practice of misrepresenting a product’s country of origin — often to evade tariffs or trade restrictions.
Photo: Screen grab from the Executive Yuan’s Web site
“Therefore, MIT [made in Taiwan] must be MIT,” Cho said. “Taiwan must uphold the lines of defense and not become a loophole.”
To address the issue, the government would reinforce a three-tiered defense strategy against origin laundering: prevention in advance, tightening inspections and imposing strict penalties for offenders, he said.
Cho said Taiwan must guard against becoming a victim of origin laundering and called on companies to work closely with the government to safeguard the nation’s economic security.
Strengthening compliance and transparency is key to earning greater trust and support from international partners amid the ongoing restructuring of the global trade order, he said.
Cho warned that following the US decision to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent, there is a risk that Chinese products could be dumped at low prices into other markets.
To protect the competitiveness of local industries and ensure the safety of consumer goods, the government would launch anti-dumping investigations, he added.
Taiwan is a leader in advanced technology, exporting a wide range of sensitive high-tech products, Cho said.
As export controls play a significant role in global economic security, Taiwan must do its best in export controls to claim its rights in negotiations with the US, he said.
On the issue of non-tariff barriers, Cho said the government and legislature would carefully discuss the issue and conduct a thorough review to determine which barriers could be lifted, while adhering to the principle of “protecting the people’s food safety and trading market order,” he added.
During a separate meeting with edamame producers and traders in Pingtung County yesterday, Cho said the Cabinet has postponed by a week the release of details of a NT$88 billion (US$2.72 billion) support package aimed at mitigating the impact of higher US tariffs on Taiwan’s economy.
Due to uncertainty surrounding the US position, Cho said ministries and agencies need more time to finalize the package’s details, including how subsidies will be allocated across various industries.
Officials in Washington and Taipei began talks via video conferencing on Friday regarding the “reciprocal tariffs.”
The “reciprocal tariffs” announced for Taiwan are set at 32 percent, higher than neighboring economies, including the 24 percent import duties set for Japan, and the 25 percent planned for South Korea.
Additional reporting by CNA
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS