The government is planning to send a high-level Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) official to the US to negotiate the exemption of Taiwanese steel and aluminum exports from US tariffs, an official at Taiwan’s representative office in the US said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the visit would take place before Friday, when the tariffs are to take effect.
Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who doubles as head of the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations, was later yesterday quoted by the Central News Agency as saying that he would head the delegation to the US, which is to leave today.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The White House on March 8 announced that US President Donald Trump signed an order under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum.
However, the order makes it clear that nations that wish to obtain a waiver for these tariffs are allowed to come up with “satisfactory alternative means” to address trade imbalances.
For Canada and Mexico, the only nations that have been temporarily excluded from the tariffs, this means complying with US demands when renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The day that the tariffs were announced, the ministry issued a statement saying that it would seek negotiations with the US on the matter.
The government is hoping that the ministry official will be able to convey the importance of Taiwan as a trade partner and a security ally to the US, the official said.
According to ministry data, Taiwan’s steel exports to the US last year totaled US$1.3 billion, accounting for 13.16 percent of Taiwan’s total steel exports, while its aluminum exports to the US totaled US$44 million, or 6.15 percent of its total aluminum exports.
Last year, the US was the largest buyer of Taiwanese steel products and the sixth-largest buyer of Taiwanese aluminum products.
Taiwan has reiterated its commitment to standing with the US to protect regional peace and stability, the official said.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
Suspected Chinese spies posing as Taiwanese tourists have been arrested for allegedly taking photographs of Philippine Coast Guard ships, local media reported. The suspected spies stayed at a resort in Palawan, where from a secluded location they used their phones to record coast guard ships entering and leaving a base, Philippine TV network GMA said on Wednesday. Palawan is near the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and other disputed areas of the South China Sea, where tensions have been on the rise between China and the Philippines. The suspects allegedly also used drones without permission and installed cameras on coconut trees in the
RSS