The Ministry of Economic Affairs would fine companies that contravene country of origin laws NT$60,000 to NT$3 million (US$1,845 to US$92,251), Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said at the legislature in Taipei yesterday, adding that serious breaches would result in a suspension of a firm’s operations.
The government is paying extra attention to the issue of origins fraud, as it is a top factor in tariff negotiations between Taiwan and the US, Kuo told a meeting of the Economics Committee.
Asked by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) how the ministry would prevent China from taking advantage of Taiwan in terms of product mislabeling and origin fraud, Kuo said that the ministry is closely monitoring the situation and preparing countermeasures.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“We will monitor import volumes, strictly enforce penalties with fines from NT$60,000 to NT$3 million per violation and revoke import-export licenses of fraudsters,” Kuo said.
The ministry would bolster anti-dumping investigations and raise awareness among local businesses about the matter, he said.
There have been nearly 800 cases of origin fraud since 2020, with fines totaling NT$29.58 million over contraventions of the Foreign Trade Act (貿易法) and the Act for the Establishment and Management of Free Trade Zones (自由貿易港區設置管理條例), Ministry of Finance data showed.
At a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee, Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) said that the government would take all necessary steps to prevent attempts by firms to disguise the origin of their Chinese-made products.
The finance ministry has set up a task force to improve inspections of illegal transshipments at customs to prevent the use of Taiwan as a base for re-exports to the US to avoid higher duties, Chuang said.
However, as the fines stipulated by the free trade zones act are NT$30,000 to NT$300,000, far lower than the maximum NT$3 million stipulated by the Foreign Trade Act, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which is in charge of the trade zones, should consider increasing them, she said.
Meanwhile, National Development Council Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said that the state-run National Development Fund has issued notices to all of its portfolio companies, requiring them to refrain from any country-of-origin mislabeling.
The council had received more than 40 responses as of yesterday afternoon, Liu said.
Separately, Kuo said that a tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers’ products would mostly affect their clients in the US.
“The government will work hard with the US clients to let the US government understand what a negative influence a heavy tariff rate can cause to the industry, hoping to negotiate for a better rate for Taiwanese manufacturers,” he said.
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