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.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS