Under new trade investigations into forced labor and overproduction, Taiwan and the US hope to maintain the trade agreement established earlier this year, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said today in Washington.
US President Donald Trump’s administration in March launched two trade investigations under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, both including Taiwan, which could lead to higher tariff rates.
The investigations would have a “limited impact” on existing trade agreements, Kung told a news conference titled “Taiwan-US Supply Chains: Outlook for Cooperation.”
Photo: CNA
Kung this week led a delegation to the US to attend the SelectUSA Investment Summit, organized by the US Department of Commerce, in Maryland.
The first trade probe aims to assess manufacturing policies and practices, due to concerns about excess capacity and overproduction, while the second is focused on forced labor practices.
Taiwan does not have an overproduction issue, Kung said, adding that, if anything, it struggles to meet demand.
As for the second probe, Kung said that Taiwan is establishing mechanisms to ban imports from countries found to have used forced labor practices.
Taiwan and the US signed a reciprocal trade agreement in Washington on Feb. 12, setting US tariffs on Taiwanese goods at 15 percent and establishing preferential market access for US industrial and agricultural exports.
The memorandum of understanding, titled the US-Taiwan Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, also granted most favorable treatment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to Taiwanese semiconductors and related products.
However, Section 301 allows Washington to impose retaliatory tariffs over perceived unfair trade practices deemed unreasonable or discriminatory and harmful to US commerce.
The US Trade Representative is holding public hearings from Tuesday through tomorrow regarding the investigations into structural excess capacity and production.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS