Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday urged opposition parties not to put extra stress on Taiwanese tariff negotiators with their additional demands, adding that the talks must be kept confidential to prevent other countries from learning of the deal.
The White House on Thursday set Taiwan’s tariff rate at 20 percent, down from the 32 percent it announced in April, following several rounds of negotiations between Taipei and Washington.
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus on Friday said it would convene a cross-caucus meeting this week to discuss the procedure for inviting the premier and other heads of ministries to deliver an impact assessment report on Taiwan-US tariff negotiations within a month.
Photo: Reuters
The government says it cannot disclose that information to the public, citing confidentiality agreements, but they are evading legislative oversight and leaving industries out in the cold, the TPP caucus said, urging President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration to “face the opposition and be honest with the public.”
When the DPP was the opposition 2010, it criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led government for not being transparent during discussions with China on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, National Policy Foundation deputy CEO Ling Tao (凌濤) said, calling on the DPP not to apply double standards.
However, Wang said that in the government’s defense, the results of the tariff talks would be reported to the legislature when needed, and that all administrative procedures would be observed.
The public would see that the Legislative Yuan can effectively provide oversight of the government, he added.
Commenting on independent Legislator May Chin’s (高金素梅) demand for an item-by-item review of all trade talk results and the legislature’s decision, Wang said it should be submitted to the public for ratification via referendum.
The constant creation of issues and conflicts during the trade talks is only putting more pressure on the teams leading the discussions and making their job more difficult, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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