A preliminary date has been set for the next round of trade negotiations with the US regarding US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, Deputy Trade Representative Yen Huai-shing (顏慧欣) said today.
Updated US tariff rates are set to take effect worldwide on Aug. 1, following an executive order issued to extend the 90-day cool-off period, originally set to end on Wednesday last week.
On Monday last week, Trump sent letters to Japan and South Korea — important East Asian trading partners — saying that a 25 percent tariff would be imposed on imported goods.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
As of today, no announcement has been made regarding Taiwan’s tariff rate.
Taiwan was not among the two dozen countries that received a letter from the Trump administration last week.
The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee today invited relevant agencies to report on the progress of tariff negotiations and response measures.
There have already been three rounds of in-person Taiwan-US tariff negotiations and multiple online meetings.
Both sides recognize that progress has been made thus far, although countries around the world are also awaiting a time slot for trade talks, Yen told lawmakers.
They aim to reach a consensus by Aug. 1, she said, adding that the letters do not mean that tariff rates have been finalized.
According to international precedent, both sides must reach a consensus, and would usually sign a draft agreement before publicly announcing any details, she added.
Saying that Japan revealed its bottom-line position to the US during negotiations, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) asked about Taiwan’s “bottom line.”
The lawmaker also asked whether negotiations would include labeling related to ractopamine — a controversial beta-agonist used to promote leanness in livestock — a zero-tariff policy or importing genetically modified foods.
Every country is obligated to uphold confidentiality in their tariff talks with the US, Yen said.
Taiwan’s bottom line is safeguarding national interests, domestic industries, food security and public health, she added.
Hsu has raised issues that concern US interests, which are indeed part of negotiations, but the final consensus cannot be disclosed at this stage, she said.
Negotiations remain ongoing, and there is a certain “give and take” element to discussions, although they remain in good faith, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) said.
Meanwhile, a Politico report released yesterday said that although Taiwan did not receive a letter last week, “it’s the countries that didn’t receive letters that may be closer to reaching real agreements.”
“The letters are pretty aggressive and direct,” said Mark Linscott, a former negotiator for the US Trade Representative’s Office.
A White House official, granted anonymity to share the administration’s plans, confirmed that no more tariff letters to countries were in the works as of yesterday, although they added that it is a “fluid situation,” the report said.
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
RSS