Lawmakers yesterday continued to argue over stacking tariffs on exports to the US after US President Donald Trump’s country-specific levies took effect on Thursday last week.
The Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that the US’ 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods would be stacked on top of existing levies, including most-favored nation duties and any anti-dumping or countervailing tariffs.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Saturday accused the government of waiting until the tariffs had taken effect to tell the public that they would be stacked.
Photo: CNA
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that the Executive Yuan at a news conference on April 4 explained that Trump’s tariff rate would be in addition to most-favored nation duties.
Huang said the government’s negotiating process has been opaque, and that ruling-party legislators defending the Executive Yuan not only shows their confusion about their roles, but the problems within the administrative team.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) yesterday also questioned the Cabinet for not clearly disclosing the stacking tariffs, effectively hiding the true effects of the levies.
The ministry’s report released this month reviewed the impact of Trump’s 20 percent “reciprocal” tariff, but did not include how it added up with other duties, Hsu said.
The report said the tariff could reduce the value of affected industries by 3 to 10 percent, but once the additional tariffs and effects of currency changes are added in, those numbers could easily double, he said.
Hsu and Huang requested that President William Lai (賴清德) inform the public about the full scope of tariff negotiations and his administration’s plans.
Wu yesterday again emphasized that the Executive Yuan had been transparent that the tariff rate would be combined with the most-favored nation duties.
The opposition parties’ claims that the government is hiding the truth are completely fictitious, she said.
The government is continuing to negotiate with the US to try and reduce the 20 percent tariff, which is the government’s most important issue right now, Wu said, asking for the opposition parties’ support.
Taipei City Councilor Yu Shu-hui (游淑慧) of the KMT said that when Japan noticed something was wrong with its talks, it promptly protested and negotiated with the US, ultimately securing an exemption from stacking tariffs.
If the Lai administration knew all along that tariffs would be stacked and did nothing about it, that is an even greater offense than hiding information, and the public would pay the price, Yu said.
Additional reporting by Tung Kuan-yi
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