Opposition parties yesterday vowed to rigorously scrutinize the newly signed Taiwan-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade.
Pointing to the stipulation that Taiwan must purchase approximately NT$2.7 trillion (US$85.7 billion) worth of natural gas, power equipment and Boeing aircraft from the US by 2029, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said that if Taiwan buys such large quantities of high-carbon fossil fuels, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050” goal would be undermined.
“Even more outrageous, the US has made ‘no reciprocal procurement commitments’ to Taiwan, effectively making it a ‘one-way tribute of NT$2.7 trillion,’ draining Taiwan’s resources,” it said.
Photo: Reuters
The KMT criticized the government for agreeing to end 100 percent batch inspections and relax residue testing standards for US pork and beef, even giving up the right to inspect factories in advance.
In healthcare, it accused the government of bypassing Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration by unconditionally accepting medical devices and drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The KMT warned that if this leads to interference with National Health Insurance pricing, resulting in soaring drug costs, the public could be forced to shoulder the burden through higher premiums.
It said that, in light of the possibility of the US leeching away Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, the party advocates for the immediate enactment of a “chip national security act.”
This would stipulate that technology exports must be “one generation behind Taiwan” and limit the scale of overseas factory setups, and that core technologies cannot be transferred without legislative approval, to prevent hollowing out of Taiwan’s industries, it said.
“What Taiwan needs is multilateral, fair business opportunities, not a one-sided, unequal treaty,” it said, vowing to closely scrutinize the agreement in the Legislative Yuan and “defend the financial well-being, health and future of Taiwan’s industries.”
Separately, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) issued a statement expressing support for deepening Taiwan-US economic and trade cooperation and acknowledged the hard work of the negotiators.
It added however that international negotiations should be based on reciprocity and national interests, not on one-sided concessions and compliance.
It said the legislature has not only not received the details of the agreement, but has never heard a report from the Executive Yuan regarding key matters such as the signed provisions, significant tariff reductions, full market liberalization and the large procurement commitments.
“The entire negotiation process has been completely opaque,” it said, adding that even after the Executive Yuan’s press conference yesterday, the full text of the agreement still has not been provided to the legislature, but the Executive Yuan is pushing for legislative approval.
“These actions clearly reflect how the DPP government first downplayed the issue, then misled the public and is now pressuring the legislature,” it said.
The TPP said the Executive Yuan must release an industry impact report, saying the agreement involves more than 6,000 products.
It said the agreement and the US$500 billion investment plan should be submitted to the legislature for full review, saying that “Taiwan’s future should not be put at risk by a secretive deal.”
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