00:00Tariff relief could soon be on the way for Taiwan.
00:03The government has just announced a US$12.6 billion package to help the economy weather
00:09the threat of US levies.
00:12That's gone out from a previously announced tariff relief plan of about $2.7 billion.
00:17For more on this, let's speak to Chris Gorin.
00:20Chris, $12 billion sounds like a big number.
00:24What exactly is in the package?
00:26Well, you're right, Louise, it is a big number, and that's because while they have increased
00:34the tariff relief funds by about 5%, there's much more than just that included in this package.
00:40They've added funds for 10 key areas that they consider to be important for Taiwan's overall
00:46economic resilience, tariffs or no tariffs.
00:49Now, here's a little bit of Taiwan's premier Zhu Rongtai making his case for the strategy.
00:55So these additional areas include funds to help businesses expand their international partnerships,
01:02for example.
01:03So these additional areas include funds to help businesses expand their international partnerships,
01:07for example.
01:08assistance to agricultural workers and farmers, extra funds for cybersecurity and national defense,
01:15and even funds for national health insurance and the country's ailing power utility, ThaiPower.
01:20In addition to that, the scope of businesses that can apply for tariff relief has also expanded.
01:22Basically, any company who can prove a 10% decline in revenue from tariffs can now qualify.
01:29So it's quite a comprehensive package.
01:30So, Chris, is all this enough to protect Taiwan's economy, and does it have support in the legislature?
01:36Yes, those are both two critical questions.
01:41relief has also expanded. Basically, any company who can prove a 10% decline in revenue from
01:47tariffs can now qualify. So it's quite a comprehensive package.
01:52So Chris, is all this enough to protect Taiwan's economy? And does it have support in the
01:58legislature? Yes, those are both two critical questions. And I've been speaking to economists
02:06today. And they tell me that Taiwan is actually well placed to weather the tariffs compared to
02:12other Asian countries. And the bigger challenge might be political fights over the budget in the
02:17legislature. So, I mean, generally speaking, we have downgraded almost all of our forecasts for Asia,
02:23with the exception of Taiwan. And the reason for that is, you know, Taiwan's, you know, very specific
02:30place and semiconductor production is going to insulate it from a lot of these headwinds.
02:34Whether it's enough is very much going to depend on kind of the final composition of these tariffs.
02:39But what we do know is that government spending this year was slated to be slashed by quite a
02:44historic amount. I mean, if the government can't execute its budget, or if it's, you know, implementing
02:49its spending plans with a lot less fiscal resources than it had initially planned for, there are
02:54consequences for that. Now, as a reminder, the opposition, KMT and TPP parties passed large budget
03:02cuts and freezes back in January. And much of the legislature's work has been gridlocked ever since.
03:08Now, this package will move to the legislature for approval. And previously, the opposition parties
03:15had been calling for even more tariff relief money. At the same time, they're also trying to cut spending.
03:20So gauging their support for this new package is going to be key moving forward.
03:24Thanks, Chris, for that update. That was Chris Goran live in our Taipei newsroom.
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