Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) yesterday rejected opposition lawmakers’ calls to assign a product code for US pork and beef containing ractopamine.
Facing a barrage of questions from lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Wang said that giving meat containing residues of ractopamine a commodity classification code would sow confusion and could come under scrutiny by the WTO.
“Ractopamine is not a [meat] product, it is an additive,” said Wang, when questioned by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠). “If we had a serial code for every additive it would cause confusion. There is no precedent for this internationally.”
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“Why not be the first?” Chiu asked.
Wang said that a product code for meat containing ractopamine would be “inconsistent with WTO regulations.”
“The average Taiwanese does not about WTO rules,” Chiu said. “They are just worried about what they are eating.”
Ractopamine is a leanness-enhancing drug that some US farmers give to their cattle and swine. It is banned in the EU and some other countries amid concern that it could adversely affect human health.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 28 announced that Taiwan would lift the bans on US pork containing ractopamine and beef from cattle more than 30 months old, which is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1.
Wang said there must be a “scientific basis” for singling out meat containing ractopamine.
“We have been importing US beef [from cattle under the age of 30 months] for eight years, and US pork is exported to more than 100 countries, while only 24 countries ban it,” Wang said. “If it was not safe, we would not lift the ban.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) challenged Wang, asking the minister to livestream for a month herself eating US pork to prove that it is safe.
“After January 1, I want you and your husband to eat US pork for lunch or dinner every day for a month for all of use to see,” he said.
Wang said she would eat US pork, “but it is not necessary to eat it for a whole month in front of the camera,” she said, adding: “Taiwanese pork tastes better.”
Wang reiterated that importing US pork is a necessary step to further solidify Taiwan-US trade ties, to which KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) asked, if there have been any advancements in bilateral ties since Tsai’s announcement that she was lifting the ban.
“When are we going to sign a bilateral trade agreement [BTA] with the US?” Yang asked.
The ban “is an obstacle to the BTA,” Wang said.
“We must remove the obstacle first to fight for the next step,” she added.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and
RSS