Taiwan yesterday began offering preferential tariffs on 19 products imported from Paraguay in line with a resolution signed in August last year as part of the Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA) between the two countries, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
Resolution No. 8 of the ECA allows for zero tariffs on 17 Paraguayan goods, including frozen boneless pork, preserved chopped beef offal, wheat powder, industrial-use alcohol and textiles, the ministry said.
Tariffs on Paraguayan-made rice crackers were also reduced to 10 percent, while natural honey would see a tariff reduction to 20 percent over the next three years, it said.
Photo: Reuters
Since 2017, Taiwan has imported US$45.44 million of the 19 goods, with frozen boneless pork being the leading import among them, the ministry said.
The ECA officially took effect on Feb. 28, 2018, and has since led to several productive joint meetings, it said.
To implement the terms of Resolution No. 8, the Executive Yuan in November last year approved an amendment to customs import tariff regulations, as proposed by the Ministry of Finance.
Paraguay is one of the nation’s key diplomatic allies in South America and has consistently voiced support for Taiwan’s participation in international affairs, the economic ministry said.
The South American country is also recognized for its stable economy and growing competitiveness in the global livestock market, with ongoing efforts to modernize industries and attract investment, it said.
The new preferential tariffs would enhance bilateral trade, particularly as Paraguay specializes in agricultural exports, the economic ministry said.
The agreement is expected to create new economic and business opportunities for both nations, it said.
From the time the ECA was launched until last year, bilateral trade between Taiwan and Paraguay has grown by 300 percent, it said.
Paraguayan frozen beef has become a significant source of beef for Taiwan, while Taiwanese exports of hand tools, plastic products and auto parts to Paraguay have increased by 27 percent, it added.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
RSS