The United States exported about US$2.4 billion worth of agricultural products in 2001 to Taiwan, from basic items such as soybeans, wheat, fruit, vegetables, cotton, and lumber to processed food and engineered wood products. The US is Taiwan's single most important supplier of agricultural products, supplying more than 1/3 of Taiwan's total agricultural imports (US$6.8 billion in 2001). The high value of this trade places Taiwan as the US's 6th most important export market for agricultural products after Japan, Canada, Mexico, China, and South Korea.
Everyday, Taiwanese eat and wear products made from US agricultural crops. Nearly all wheat and soybeans, used to make fresh bread, tofu, steamed buns, and an endless variety of other traditional dishes, are imported from the US. Also, almost all the corn used as livestock feed and 1/4 of raw cotton used by Taiwan's textile manufacturers is grown in the US too. These and other commodity-type agricultural products account for 50 percent of Taiwan's agricultural imports from the US.
Retail-ready products, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, dried fruit, meat, seafood, and processed foods, account for another 30 percent of total US agricultural exports to Taiwan, while food ingredients and semi-processed foods account for the remaining 20 percent.
During 2001, Taiwan exported US$376 million in agricultural products to the US. Principal products included consumer-ready foods, wood products, and fish and seafood. Agricultural trade is a two-way partnership for the US and Taiwan. In general, Taiwan imports goods requiring cooler temperatures and large land areas to produce from the US, and the US relies on Taiwan for certain subtropical products as well as high-quality processed ethnic Chinese foods and ingredients.
Now a member of the WTO, Taiwan is both committed to further opening its markets to agriculture imports and can look forward to greater access for its products overseas. Taiwan consumers are the clear winners with Taiwan's WTO membership. Import tariffs have dropped on agricultural goods from an average of 22 percent in 2000 to 14 percent currently.
In addition, Taiwan restrictions on the import of key products, from apples, pears, and potatoes to wine, rice, and poultry have been relaxed, or eliminated altogether.
Greater competition for business means more choices and better service for distributors and consumers in Taiwan. The US is expected to remain Taiwan's number one source of supply for key agricultural commodities, while taking advantage of new opportunities under the WTO to increase exports of value-added products.
Lower tariffs, an increasingly cosmopolitan consumer base, and a long history of good trading relations augur that the best is yet to come in US - Taiwan agricultural trade.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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