The Ministry of Agriculture and domestic importers agreed to increase purchases of US grains and meat to US$10 billion over the next four years, sources with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday set a 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese products except semiconductors, which is higher than the 15 percent tariffs on Japan an South Korea.
Taiwan should agree to buy more US bulk grain as a bargaining chip for lower tariffs, as long as the deal would not risk the nation’s food security and public health, Feng Chia University international business professor Yang Ming-hsien (楊明憲) said.
Photo: Bloomberg
He also urged the government to secure a deal sooner by sending an agricultural trade delegation to the US this month, a month earlier than scheduled.
Sources familiar with the nation’s bulk grain trade said the date of negotiations cannot be changed, as the schedule is dictated by the availability of US trade representatives, adding that the Taiwanese delegation wanted to conduct the talks in June.
Taiwan last year imported US$1.3 billion of US soy and corn out of an estimated US$3 billion total bulk grain imports, they said.
Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) is to head the delegation instead of a deputy agriculture minister as a sign of the negotiation’s importance, the sources said.
The bulk grain trade talks would include the purchase of US meat for the first time, they said.
Taiwanese officials and importers agreed to propose buying US$10 billion in bulk grain and meat over the next four years, compared with the US$8 billion the nation purchased over the past four years, the sources said.
Taiwan would be able to afford the increase, as the value of US soy and corn has fallen significantly, following the US-China trade war, putting the US on roughly an equal footing with Brazil, they said.
The nation’s agricultural sector has already increased its reliance on feed imported from the US without being prompted, they added.
The Ministry of Agriculture declined to confirm the offer or Chen’s alleged role in the delegation, saying that it is not at liberty to discuss unsubstantiated claims.
Meanwhile, Chen Ming-hsin (陳明信), chairman of a business association for boxed meal operators, said the government must draw a red line to protect food security and public health.
The Democratic Progressive Party government has been friendly to Taiwanese farmers and instituted policies to promote the use of domestic farm products in school meals since being elected to power in 2016, he said.
The policies resulted in a higher retention rate for young Taiwanese workers in the agricultural sector, increased the total area of land under cultivation and improved children’s health, Chen Ming-hsin said, adding that domestic farmers produce 99 percent of the food used in school meals.
A failure to hold the line on US imports would undo the progress Taiwanese farmers achieved and undermine self-sufficient food production, which could threaten national security, he said.
Allowing the US agricultural sector to flood Taiwanese markets would allow US producers to dictate the terms and raise prices in the absence of domestic competition, he added.
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