The 32 percent tariff US President Donald Trump announced last week for Taiwan is considered “extremely high,” so the government has proposed a NT$88 billion (US$2.69 billion) support package for the worst-case scenario, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said in a presentation at the legislature on Friday.
A tariff of 30 percent or higher would have the most significant impact among the three scenarios for which the government had drafted responses, he said.
The “low” tariff scenario would have been a 10 percent to 20 percent levy, which would have had a manageable impact on local industries and its support plan would have cost NT$36.1 billion, Cho said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The “high” tariff scenario was a 20 percent to 30 percent duty, which would have had a high risk of impacting manufacturing sectors such as machinery and electronics, and the exports of agricultural and fishery products, which would have needed a support plan of about NT$57.6 billion, he said.
The “reciprocal” tariffs for countries the US has a trade deficit with were scheduled to take effect on Wednesday last week, but Trump announced a 90-day pause on the new measures, while retaining the 10 percent duties imposed last Saturday on nearly all countries and territories.
The 32 percent tariff for Taiwan is higher than the 24 percent and 25 percent duty set for Japan and South Korea respectively.
The nation is expected to see a drop of at least 21 percent in the value of goods shipped to the US, as US buyers are to see higher prices for products from Taiwan.
To avoid US clients placing orders with competitors in other countries, Taiwanese businesses would have to consider moving manufacturing to locations abroad to stay competitive in the global market, Cho said.
The local manufacturing sector is likely to see a 5 percent drop in production value, and 125,000 jobs could be at stake, he said.
The agricultural sector would also be hit by the sweeping 32 percent tariff, because of the added cost of exporting products to the US, estimated at NT$320 million for orchids, NT$460 million for tilapia and NT$110 million for mahi-mahi, or dolphin fish, Cho said.
Cho hoped to obtain lawmakers’ support for the administration’s NT$88 billion proposal, which aimed to mitigate the tariff’s impact over a four-year period.
The support plans would be funded through a special budget and requires legislative approval.
In addition to the proposed plans and trade negotiations with the US, the government would also tackle other trade issues, including export controls on advanced technology and Chinese products “dumped” on the US market through a third country, such as Taiwan and Vietnam, he said.
As the US has imposed 145 percent tariffs on China, the government would also prevent China from “dumping” cheap products in markets outside the US, including Taiwan, he added.
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
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
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