Most domestic firms think that Taiwan should sign regional trade agreements (RTAs) with the US and Japan, while around 30 percent of them have no idea what an RTA is, according to the results of a recent poll.
The results of the survey conducted by the Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI, 全國工總) show that 63 percent of Taiwan-based businesses have an understanding of an RTA's functions and 33.7 percent of them think that Taiwan should ink such pacts, first with the US and Japan, then later with Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
About 91 percent of the bus-inesses polled hailed the government's keen efforts to forge RTAs with other countries in recent years, with just a small percentage of them voicing worries that their businesses might be affected by further opening of the domestic market.
In addition, 84.9 percent of the firms surveyed believe that RTAs would boost their businesses.
Most of the Taiwan businesses favoring signing an RTA with the US have frequent business relations with the US, such as steel makers, textile firms and other export-oriented firms. Tea producers and toy makers also contend that a Taiwan-US RTA would help sharpen their competitiveness in the US market due to tariff reductions and increased quota amounts, according to the poll.
Meanwhile, 15.1 percent, most of them in local consumption sectors such as the cement industry, do not think that RTAs would help improve their businesses.
On the contrary, some of them said they feel RTAs would result in a damaging impact on their businesses.
The CNFI said it carried out the survey of its member companies to better understand the response of Taiwan-based businesses amid an increasing call for RTAs across the globe.
Asian-Pacific countries, including Australia, Japan, mainland China, New Zealand, South Korea and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are keen on promoting such accords, it noted.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
RSS