MOEA stands firm on farm, labor trade for ECFA pact

When responding to lawmakers' questions at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang affirmed the ministry's two ultimate principles as preconditions in inking the ECFA pact.

Shih said during the previous rounds of informal talks, officials here had clearly told their Chinese counterparts that Taiwan will not open its labor market to Chinese workers concerning service trade nor will it expand the list of Chinese agricultural items that are now allowed to enter the Taiwan market.

When pressed by lawmakers, Shih stressed that Taiwan would rather not sign the accord if Beijing refuses to accept these two conditions.

He said the MOEA's stand is to seek a trade deal that meets the nation's needs and wins the public support with the whole process coming under the supervision of the parliament.

According to Shih, officials from both sides of the Taiwan Strait will hold a fourth round of informal talks on the ECFA deal late this month and formal talks are expected to get underway later this year.

An unidentified official from Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs explained that the two sides have held three rounds of informal talks on the proposed ECFA deal and one more round of informal talks will be held soon to exchange their "early harvest" lists.

"When that happens, the lists of industries or services that each side will open for immediate tariff concessions or more liberal trade terms will become clear," the official said.

Shih said Taiwan has not yet fully finalized its "early harvest" list, but he added that the number of items to be listed will be fewer than 1,000 at the initial stage.

On legislators' concerns that the ECFA, similar to free trade agreements between trade partners, may adversely affect Taiwan, Shih said the pact will generate more positive effects than negative impact.

"Signing a cross-strait ECFA will definitely help boost Taiwan's gross domestic product (GDP) and create more job openings," Shih said, emphasizing the trade arrangement will bring not just short-term gains but also long-term benefits.

Acknowledging that the proposed accord will adversely impact some labor-intensive industries, Shih said the government will come up with a series of special programs to help makers in affected industries like towels, bedroom facilities and hosiery to transform, upgrade or switch to other lines of business.

He expressed the hope of signing the agreement with China as soon as possible. "We expect the proposed ECFA accord can be signed next year, but it would be more than welcome if the goal can be reached earlier," Shih said.

The administration led by the ruling Kuomintang here has argued that an ECFA agreement with China should be signed as early as possible to reduce the impact on Taiwan's enterprises once economic integration of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comes into force next year.

After the China-ASEAN free trade agreement takes effect on Jan. 1, 2010, petrochemical products, textiles, automobile parts and machinery exports from ASEAN states to China will enjoy tariff-free treatment, which government officials said will seriously undermine the competitiveness of similar products from Taiwan.

Critics of the ECFA deal with China have also expressed fears it could subject Taiwan to be more economically dependent on China, which they said could threaten Taiwan's sovereignty and independence.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email