Taiwan-US tariff negotiations have reached the final stage and progress is within sight, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told legislators yesterday.
Both sides hope to conclude the talks as soon as possible, despite the US government shutdown, Cho said, pledging that the government would work hard to expedite the process.
Taiwan’s exports to the US are currently subject to a 20 percent tariff.
Photo: CNA
A decision on the tariffs is not up to Taipei, but some progress is expected soon, Cho said in response to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) about whether the government could finalize a deal by the end of the year.
After the fifth round of in-person talks at the end of September, the two sides held another videoconference during which progress was made, Office of Trade Negotiations Executive Secretary Benjamin Hsu (徐崇欽) said at the time.
The two sides are exchanging and discussing written documents, Hsu said.
A concluding meeting is to be held to finalize the deal once a consensus is reached, Hsu added.
Lai also asked whether the government has conducted scenario planning regarding the US Supreme Court’s recent debate on the legality of US President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose reciprocal tariffs, requesting that the Ministry of Economic Affairs submit a report.
The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling, and a pre-emptive report might affect Taiwan-US interactions, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said.
The ministry will submit a report within two weeks after the ruling is out, he said.
The government will fight for the rights of domestic manufacturers if a tariff refund mechanism is later established, he added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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