Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Co prices for cooking rice wine and other related products would remain frozen this year and next year, the state-run liquor company said yesterday, adding that it is seeking an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese beer through the Taiwan Brewers’ Association, of which it is a member.
“To comply with government policy to control inflation, prices of cooking rice wine and other related products, which are used by people daily, would not rise this year or next year,” Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor chairman Tang Chi-an (湯期安) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee.
Freezing retail prices of red-label cooking rice wine alone costs the company about NT$500 million (US$15.21 million) per year, Tang said.
Photo: CNA
“We will continue to find ways to cover the losses, but we also hope this could be listed as a financial burden that the company must carry in compliance with government policy,” he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said that the company’s revenue has dropped to NT$55 billion from NT$61.9 billion in 2020, with profits declining to NT$5.8 billion from NT$7.4 billion.
Lai attributed the decrease to Japan Tobacco Inc opening a factory in Tainan and Heineken NV opening its Northeast Asia supply center in Pingtung County in April last year.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Beer has been banned from entering the Chinese market for two years, Lai said, adding that Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor’s finances this year are expected to be worse than last year.
Tang said he is confident about the company’s performance this year, adding that the year-end bonus for employees would exceed 2.5 months of salary.
“We are receiving new orders from overseas buyers and would expand marketing efforts by working with baseball tournaments,” he said.
Tang in November last year said that the company would only consider slightly raising the price of Kaoliang liquor due to a large increase in wheat prices.
The price of Taiwan Beer is likely to remain the same, he said.
“Instead of a pricing scheme, we would focus more on targeting young consumers using innovative marketing strategies, such as sponsoring qualifiers for the World Baseball Classic next month,” Tang said.
The Taipei Dome from Feb. 21 to 25 is to host qualifiers for the global event in 2026. Taiwan are to vie against Nicaragua, South Africa and Spain for two berths.
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) said that the firm is considering asking the government to launch an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese beer through the association, adding that the ministry would work with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to determine whether an anti-dumping tax should be imposed on Chinese beer.
Lawmakers have accused Chinese brewers of engaging in unfair trade practices by receiving subsidies from the Chinese government.
A review and investigation of an anti-dumping case could take eight months to a year to complete, Customs Administration Director-General Peng Ying-wei (彭英偉) said.
The association was established last year by Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor, Heineken Taiwan, Le Ble D’or, Taihu Brewing, Zhangmen Craft Brewing and Kavalan Distillery.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS