Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday outlined five measures to tackle rules of origin circumvention, which he said is one of four key areas in Taiwan-US tariff negotiations.
The measures are stronger monitoring of goods from China, communicating with Taiwanese businesses, establishing a blacklist of violators, imposing stricter penalties and applying anti-dumping tools, Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei.
Stricter monitoring would target goods redirected to Taiwan and those rerouted through Taiwan to the US, Kuo said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
It is intended to prevent trade activities that could “affect the US’ judgement of Taiwan,” he added.
“Origin laundering” refers to the deceptive practice of companies misrepresenting a product’s country of origin to make it appear as though it was manufactured somewhere else, often to avoid tariffs or trade restrictions.
The minister made the comments along with Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) and Deputy Minister of Finance Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) as the government aims to address how Taiwan plans to sustain competitiveness in its agriculture, aquaculture, livestock and critical manufacturing sectors in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff policy.
Photo: CNA
Asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) whether the government was adequately prepared to weather economic turbulence triggered by Trump’s new tariff policy, Kuo said that as many exporters to the US face a uniform 10 percent tariff rate, Taiwan remains “highly competitive” due to its industrial strengths.
Taiwan and the US maintain “mostly complementary” trade in technology and other sectors, he added.
As the Presidential Office and the Cabinet started consultations with industry groups yesterday afternoon, Kuo said the government would continue listening to the private sector to identify areas for improvement.
At a separate meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said that uncertainty surrounding US tariffs remained, despite Trump’s decision overnight to pause planned tariffs on goods from more than 75 countries for 90 days, excluding China.
Apart from the great uncertainty for the stock market, a trade war and the hefty tariffs imposed by the US and China on each other is also not good for the global economy, Yang said.
“The only way for Taiwan to deal with this uncertainty is negotiation,” cable TV station USTV quoted Yang as saying.
Replying to a question raised by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) whether there is room for upward revisions to the nation’s consumer price index (CPI) and core CPI this year, Yang said the central bank still believes consumer prices would remain stable in the face of a potential tariff hit.
It is too early to judge whether the local stock market is about to enter a bear market following days of turmoil caused by Trump’s tariff policy, Yang said, adding that the market’s long-term outlook would reflect the fundamentals.
The central bank would assess whether to increase Taiwan’s holdings of US Treasury bonds in its foreign exchange reserves, Yang said.
“At present more than 80 percent is ideal,” he said.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-hui
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