Taiwan to slap anti-dumping duties on Chinese beer, steel for 4 months
Taiwan said Friday it will slap anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made beer and hot-rolled steel for four months from July 3, claiming 'substantial damage' to its industry.
The finance ministry said in a statement that it and the economic affairs ministry 'have preliminarily determined that there is dumping (of these products) and it has caused substantial damage to domestic industry'.
The ministry said the duties will be imposed for four months to 'prevent our industry from continuing to suffer damage during the investigation'.
The levies on Chinese-made beer will range from 13.13 percent to 64.14 percent while for steel they will be either 16.9 percent or 20.15 percent, it added.
In March, Taiwan launched anti-dumping probes into Chinese-made beer and some steel products following complaints of unfair competition.
Tensions are already high between the two sides, with Beijing claiming the self-ruled island as part of its territory and threatening to use force to bring it under its control.
Taiwan currently has anti-dumping duties on 10 products, including eight from China, which is its largest trade partner, official data show.
China was the biggest source of beer imports to Taiwan last year, Bloomberg News reported, with shipments topping US$125 million last year.
Taiwan was also looking at whether low prices of certain Chinese hot-rolled steel products resulting from 'long-standing overcapacity' in manufacturing were harming domestic players, according to the ministry.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
3 hours ago
- HKFP
China to restart imports of some Japanese seafood after nearly 2-year Fukushima ban
China has lifted a ban on seafood imports from most regions of Japan, partially mending a years-long dispute over Tokyo's handling of nuclear wastewater. China and Japan are key trading partners, but increased friction over territorial rivalries and military spending has frayed ties in recent years. Japan's brutal occupation of parts of China before and during World War II remains a sore point, with Beijing accusing Tokyo of failing to atone for its past. Japan began gradually releasing treated wastewater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean in 2023. The move was backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the plant operator TEPCO says all radioactive elements have been filtered out except for tritium, levels of which are within safe limits. But it drew sharp criticism from Beijing, which banned imports of Japanese seafood as a result. Russia later followed suit. Samples from long-term monitoring of nuclear-contaminated water from Fukushima had 'not shown abnormalities', China's General Administration of Customs said in a statement Sunday. As a result, China 'decided to conditionally resume' seafood imports from Japan, with the exception of imports from 10 of the country's 47 prefectures, including Fukushima and Tokyo, which remain banned. The Japanese government received the decision 'positively', Kazuhiko Aoki, deputy chief cabinet secretary, told reporters in Tokyo. But Japan 'will strongly demand the Chinese side lift remaining import regulations on seafood from 10 prefectures', he added. Japanese Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi also called China's move 'a major milestone'. In 2011, a huge earthquake triggered a deadly tsunami that swamped the Fukushima nuclear facility and pushed three of its six reactors into meltdown. China vociferously opposed the release of the treated wastewater, casting it as environmentally irresponsible. But in September last year it said it would 'gradually resume' importing the seafood. Production companies that had suspended trade must reapply for registration in China and would be 'strictly' supervised, Beijing's customs administration said Sunday.
HKFP
3 hours ago
- HKFP
School debate contest with democrats as judges scrapped after shopping mall and university cancel bookings
A secondary school debating competition featuring prominent democrats as judges has been scrapped after a Tsuen Wan shopping mall and a local university cancelled bookings for the event. The grand final and prize presentation ceremony, originally scheduled for last Saturday will be 'cancelled until further notice,' the organiser Zi3Sin6 Debate said in an Instagram post, adding that it 'deeply regrets' the move due to 'unavoidable changes.' The competition was originally set to be held at the Citywalk shopping centre in Tsuen Wan, owned by developer Sino Group. The debate group was notified on Wednesday that the booking had been pulled due to 'urgent repairs,' according to its statement. The group then booked to hold the competition at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, but the university withdrew the venue on Thursday 'after inquiring into more details about the competition,' the statement said. The judges were to be former chairperson of the Democratic Party Emily Lau, and founding members of the now-defunct Civic Party Audrey Eu and Alan Leong. The Democratic Party, the city's largest opposition group with a three-decade history, is taking steps to disband. HKFP has reached out to Sino Group and CUHK for confirmation. 'Unavoidable changes' The debate group continued in its Chinese statement: 'We understand that the teams are in the process of preparing for the competition and we deeply regret the cancellation of the final as a result of these unavoidable changes.' 'We would like to extend our deepest apologies to all affected teams and those who are looking forward to participating in the final and would like to express our sincere gratitude to the judges, the teams and all the related parties for their understanding and support.' Ming Pao reported that part of the Citywalk atrium where the competition was supposed to be held had been fenced off on Saturday, with a sign saying that the venue was temporarily closed 'due to emergency works.' Staff at the shopping mall said the ceiling needed replastering. CUHK earlier in June also pulled its venue for an seminar held by Greenpeace, citing 'urgent maintenance' in one of its lecture halls. The environmental NGO's discussion on the city's eco-tourism policies was held online instead. Speakers at the event included academics, industry representatives, and community representatives, such as Lam Chiu-ying, former chief of the Hong Kong Observatory and now chair of the Hong Kong Countryside Foundation; Ada Kong, programme director of Greenpeace East Asia; and Chan Kim-ching, researcher at Liber Research Community.
AllAfrica
5 hours ago
- AllAfrica
As Singapore PM visits China, no sign US pressure constrains ties
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong made a five-day visit to China last week, a prominent display of friendly and constructive relations that stood in contrast to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's comments about 'malign Chinese influence' at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit in Singapore on May 31. After meeting with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and other Chinese officials in Beijing, Wong joined World Economic Forum President Borge Brende on stage at 'Summer Davos' in Tianjin. The messages from their conversations were clear: close attention is being paid to the importance of relations between Singapore and China by both sides, globalism is far from dead and nations are finding ways to move beyond US protectionism and diktat. On June 24, Wong wrote on X: 'Productive meeting with President Xi this morning. We agreed to further deepen cooperation in line with our unique 'all-round high-quality future-oriented' partnership.' He then added, 'Amidst a more uncertain external environment, we are committed to working together to foster continued peace, stability and shared prosperity for the region.' Established in April 2023, that partnership covers trade and investment, environmentally sound ('green') development, the digital economy, food security, the financial sector, aviation, and people-to-people exchanges. It is backed by a 'shared commitment to multilateralism, support for the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, adherence to international law, and …the rules based multilateral trading system as embodied by the World Trade Organisation.' Wong's visit came in the run-up to the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and the People's Republic on October 3, 1990. But ties between the two date further back, to Lee Kuan Yew's meetings and discussions with Deng Xiaoping when the latter visited Singapore in 1978. Commenting on this history, Prime Minister Wong pointed out that 'President Xi is in a unique position, I think, to have engaged and met all the prime ministers of Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong, Lee Hsien Loong and, now, me.' In their meeting, Prime Minister Wong and Premier Li 'commended the significant progress in bilateral cooperation over the past 35 years, underscored by the three Government-to-Government projects in Suzhou, Tianjin, and Chongqing.' Those projects are: the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park; the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City urban development venture; and the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity, which promotes links in financial services, information & communications, and transport & logistics. Wong and Li also 'welcomed the strong momentum in the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and looked forward to signing the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade later this year.' After the meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of the following documents, as detailed by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Law of the Republic of Singapore and the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China on Legal Talent Development; Letter of Intent (LOI) to Jointly Explore Establishing a Senior Officials Exchange Programme between Singapore and China; LOI to Develop a Third Country Training Programme between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore and the China International Development Cooperation Agency of the People's Republic of China; Data Exchange Agreement between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the National Intellectual Property Administration of the People's Republic of China. Wong and Li 'also took note of the launch of the China-Singapore over-the-counter (OTC) bond market arrangement. This enables selected Singapore-based banks to offer trading and custody services for onshore RMB bonds, and enhance international investors' access to China's bond market through Singapore.' Wong also met with Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at 'Summer Davos,' where they talked about cooperation in areas including renewable energy and food security. 'This,' he wrote on X, 'builds on the Vietnam-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) launched earlier this year.' Singapore, said Wong, 'is doing something like more than 20 industrial parks in Vietnam.' This year's event, officially the 16th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting of the New Champions, attracted about 1,800 participants from around the world, this time under the theme 'Entrepreneurship for a New Era.' It was the eighth time that the event was held in Tianjin. Wong spoke at length with WEF President Brende about the need to reform and preserve the world economic order by means of a 'flexible multilateralism' that stops 'the jungle growing back' under the 'rule of the strong.' As an example, he said that a few countries, like-minded countries, Singapore working with Japan and Australia, we have come together to initiate a joint statement initiative on e-commerce. And after five hard years of negotiation, today, more than 70 countries have agreed on the first set of rules for digital trading – it is the building block for the first set of global rules on digital trade. And I give these illustrations to show that it is possible to update, evolve, improve the multilateral system and global institutions that we have today. It is painstaking work but there is no alternative. Singapore, he said, built trade and investment links with its nearest neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia, then Vietnam and other members of ASEAN, and now, for the whole of ASEAN, we are looking at ways to better integrate ASEAN and make us more united, be able to offer a more competitive single market to investors. So that is within ASEAN. But outside of our region, we are also engaging different blocks. We already have very close links with China, Japan, Korea, India in Asia. But we are engaging outside of Asia, for example, with the EU, with the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council: the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit held in Kuala Lumpur on May 27], with Latin America. So we are trying to find ways to strengthen links with like-minded entities everywhere around the world. As President Trump's trade war takes its toll, such efforts have acquired a new urgency. The June Survey of Professional Forecasters (economists and analysts who closely monitor the Singapore economy) conducted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed a reduction in this year's projected economic growth to 1.7% from the 2.6% projected in March – an abrupt slowdown from the 4.4% GDP growth recorded in 2024. Tensions over trade and other geopolitical matters were rated as the greatest downside risk to the Singaporean economy, followed by rising interest rates and global economic slowdown. Respondents to the survey also signaled concern over tighter financial conditions. Manufacturing has taken a particularly large hit. Changes in median forecasts of 2025 macroeconomic indicators from the March to the June survey include: manufacturing +2.9% to -0.3%, non-oil domestic exports +2.8% to +1.0%, finance & insurance +4.0% to +3.3%, construction +3.4% to +3.3%, wholesale & retail trade +2.7% to +2.2%, accommodation & food services +2.0% to +1.5%, and private consumption: +3.5% to +3.1%. The construction sector is holding up with support from the Changi Airport Terminal 5 and other longer-term projects. In late May, DBS Bank senior economist Chua Han Teng wrote that 'Continued elevated global trade policy uncertainties are likely to dampen business confidence, which have already turned down.' US President Trump's so-called 'reciprocal' tariff on Singapore is only 10% (the same as the current baseline tariff), but those that might be applied to the rest of Asia are considerably higher: 46% on Vietnam, 36% on Thailand, 32% on Indonesia, 32% on Taiwan, 25% on South Korea, 24% on Japan, etc. Then there is the 25% tariff on autos, and proposed tariffs on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and other products that are now under consideration, plus multiple tariffs on China that currently add up to effective rates of more than 30% on most Chinese goods. This is all negative for Singapore, which lives on trade and investment. The China and ASEAN are Singapore's largest trade partners, each accounting for about a quarter of its imports and exports, US is Singapore's largest foreign investor, and Singapore is China's largest foreign investor. The 'reciprocal' tariffs have been 'paused' until July 9, but the White House now says that that date is 'not critical,' leaving hope for negotiated reductions, but also, given Trump's penchant for changing his mind, continued uncertainty. In a ministerial statement on US tariffs and their implications issued on April 8, Wong wrote that, 'In Singapore's case, we have an FTA with America. We impose zero tariffs on US imports, and we actually run a trade deficit with the US – meaning we buy more from them than they do from us.' Therefore, 'If the tariffs were truly reciprocal, and if they were meant to target only those with trade surpluses, then the tariff for Singapore should be zero.' 'But still we are being subjected to the 10% tariff. We are very disappointed by the US move, especially considering the deep and longstanding friendship between our two countries. These are not actions one does to a friend.' Nevertheless, at Summer Davos Wong said: We want to be friends with both America and China, and to have good relations with them, cooperate on win-win areas. But it is not just us; all of Southeast Asia would like to do the same. And within ASEAN in particular, no single country in ASEAN may have the same size and scale, but when you add ASEAN up altogether, collectively, we are not small. We have considerable heft. We are 700 million people, a sizable economy, and ASEAN has the ability to shape its own destiny, to shape its own future. ASEAN was the arena for proxy wars during the Cold War. We don't want that to happen again. So ASEAN's approach is very clear. We reject zero-sum competition. 'I know everyone monitors and tracks what we say and what we do very closely,' he said, 'trying to parse every hidden meaning behind every word, behind every action, whether we are moving closer to one or the other. But that's not how we look at things.' In fact, there is no sign whatsover that American government pressure is constraining relations between Singapore and China. On the contrary, the two Asian countries have appropriated the terms rules-based global order, free trade and multilateralism, which are no longer associated with the US. And they are working together on a wide range of practical activities that seem totally alien to the Trump Administration's view of what is or what it would like to be happening in Asia. Follow this writer on X: @ScottFo83517667
