Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) has held a forum in Pingtung County with orchid producers to discuss the possible impact of US tariffs on Taiwanese phalaenopsis, or moth orchids, an important export product to the US.
The government would take three approaches to boost the industry’s resilience, Hu said at the forum on Wednesday.
First, it would provide financial assistance by subsidizing interest on loans to cut costs, he said.
Photo: Wang Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
Second, it would provide guidance in cultivation and production technology to boost competitiveness.
Third, it would encourage market expansion by increasing sales in the US and driving consumption in the domestic market, he said.
The government would also promote the use of moth orchids for religious ceremonies or in Matsu temples across Southeast Asia, Taiwan Orchid Breeders Society secretary-general Yang Yi-ping (楊怡萍) said.
Taiwan’s moth orchids are world-leading in terms of quality, variety and technical innovation, Yang said.
Ministry of Agriculture statistics showed that last year the nation’s orchid industry was worth NT$18.6 billion (US$570.4 million), of which exports accounted for NT$6.54 billion, Hu said.
Moth orchid exports totaled NT$4.94 billion, with US exports making up 40 percent at NT$1.97 billion, the ministry’s statistics showed.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump announced a 32 percent tariff to be levied on Taiwanese goods, although the tariff was put on hold for 90 days on Wednesday last week.
Taiwan and the US would hold additional talks on tariffs after representatives of both sides held their first meeting on April 11, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said.
The Ministry of Agriculture has also announced an NT$18 billion support package for the agricultural industry, which might be adjusted depending on the outcome of the Taiwan-US negotiations.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.