The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged President William Lai (賴清德) to clearly explain the government’s strategy and short to long-term response to the US’ new trade tariffs, while the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) called on Lai to convene a national affairs conference over the matter.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced “reciprocal tariffs” with major US trading partners, including a 32 percent tariff on Taiwan.
The Executive Yuan on Friday announced that it would allocate NT$88 billion (US$2.66 billion) to assist industrial and agricultural sectors impacted by the tariffs.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
KMT think tank deputy director Ling Tao (凌濤) at a news conference in Taipei yesterday said the Lai administration does not have any countermeasures for the latest US tariffs, because it has been too focused on mass recall campaigns for the past year, Tao said.
Now the tariffs are taking effect, and the administration still does not have a solution, showing it is vastly ill-prepared, he said.
The Lai administration should communicate who would lead negotiations, their strategy and short to long-term response plans in the face of the tariffs, as Taiwan’s industries and financial markets cannot wait, Tao said.
Photo: CNA
He also offered some suggestions, including procuring new nuclear energy facilities to improve national energy security and reduce the Taiwan-US trade surplus, forming a negotiation team, appointing a special envoy for talks with the US and binding trade to regional security defense.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s investment in the US could also be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations, he said.
KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu said that Taiwan’s businesses are very worried, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, which would be the first to be impacted by the tariff.
Governments are taking action, as the global supply chain is being restructured, she said.
The Lai administration should take concrete actions, rather than procrastinating and brushing off the public, which is waiting for the government to provide solutions, she said.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Liu Tsai-wei (柳采葳) said that the public wants the government to face and solve problems.
“Unfortunately, it is like a group of patients unaware of their illness. They do not even know what the problem is, let alone how to solve it,” she said.
Separately yesterday, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) criticized Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), saying he was “careless and incompetent,” referring to Cho’s response to US tariffs, and called on Lai to convene the governing and opposition parties to discuss national affairs together.
In the face of the tariffs, “the Lai administration could not even gather the most basic information, let alone have a concrete strategy for negotiating with the US,” Huang said. “It is clear that they were completely unprepared and lack any concrete measures.”
Cho’s “incompetent response” to the tariffs shows he is no longer capable of leading the executive team, he added.
“Lai must step up and convene a national affairs conference with the major political parties, industries and labor representatives to discuss how to resolve this major crisis facing Taiwan,” he said.
Huang said the TPP caucus submitted a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Saturday calling for cross-caucus talks and for an Executive Yuan representative to outline the government’s tariffs response plan to the legislature.
In response, Democratic Progressive Party spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) yesterday said that the Lai administration has been making pre-emptive plans and response measures.
Lai and Cabinet officials have held a series of intensive meetings over the past few days and consulted with industries on appropriate countermeasures, Wu said.
“In contrast, what have the opposition parties done other than criticizing and attacking the administration?” he asked.
Additional reporting by Chen Yun
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