Although the government hopes to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China by the end of this month, it is not certain whether the two sides will arrive at an accord by that time, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday.
“As some issues relating to the ‘early harvest list’ are stuck in negotiations, we are not sure whether a breakthrough can be made soon or whether an ECFA can be inked by the end of this month,” Wu said.
“We want China to offer tariff concessions for our weak industries to compete with other ASEAN countries in the Chinese market, but China also has to take care of the interests of its own industries,” Wu said.
“This is where the negotiations are stuck,” he said.
FREE-TRADE PACTS
Wu also reiterated that as a member of the WTO, Taiwan would “certainly” seize the opportunity to sign free-trade agreements (FTA) with other countries.
The two sides will start a third round of ECFA negotiations in Beijing today to discuss its text and provisions and the “early harvest list” that will determine items to be subject to preferential treatment in future cross-strait trade.
TAIWAN AFFAIRS OFFICE
Fan Liqing (范麗青), spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office under the Beijing-based State Council, said earlier yesterday that noticeable progress had been made in the ECFA negotiations and that more than 500 Taiwanese export items could be put on the early harvest list.
“China has done its best and will accept a large number of the items that Taiwan put on the list,” she said.
“China will benefit much less than Taiwan from the list in terms of the total valuation of the items and in terms of market scale,” Fan said.
“Whether or not an ECFA can be signed by the end of June will depend on both sides making further efforts,” she said.
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