The Office of the US Trade Representative submitted this year’s National Trade Estimate (NTE) report yesterday, criticizing Taiwan for its policies on certain US imports ahead of an expected tariff announcement tomorrow.
The NTE is an annual report submitted to US Congress by March 31, although this one comes as US President Donald Trump threatens to enact reciprocal tariffs on nearly every country with which the US engages in trade.
This year’s report calls out Taiwan’s trade barriers for vehicles, US pork and beef, and intellectual property (IP) protection, among other sectors.
Photo: Taipei Times
On vehicles, Taiwan adopted global automobile standards upon becoming a WTO member in January 2002 and has regulations in place for companies to import vehicles that comply with US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, the NTE said.
However, the limit on those vehicles is only 75 units per car model as of 2023, reduced from 100 units per model in 2021, it said.
On US pork products, Taiwan’s regulations on labeling products and limits on the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine “inaccurately implied that there is a food safety concern with US pork products,” the report said.
US stakeholders have also expressed concerns that officials “target” establishments such as importers and distributors of US pork, “disrupting” normal business and “discouraging” them from purchasing US pork products, the NTE said.
For beef and beef products, the report said Taiwan lifted a ban on products from cattle older than 30 months, but has continued to ban imports of certain products claiming food safety concerns.
“The United States continues to urge Taiwan to open its market fully to US beef and beef products based on science” as well as a 2009 agreement between the two countries, the NTE said.
For IP protection, the NTE said that Taiwan in 2019 revised copyright laws to crack down on illegal streaming devices, but that online piracy remains “widespread.”
While the NTE said that “draft amendments represented progress in some areas,” they have yet to be passed by the government, as have 2022 amendments to copyright regulations that would allow for criminal prosecution without complaint from the rights holder if damages exceed a certain threshold.
The NTE was published alongside a statement by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who said that “no American president in modern history has recognized the wide-ranging and harmful foreign trade barriers American exporters face more than President Trump.”
“This administration is working diligently to address these unfair and non-reciprocal practices,” the statement added.
Additional reporting by CNA
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS