Farmers Say No to Proposed Free Entry for U.S. Agricultural Imports

TaiwanPlus News

Farmers in Taiwan are protesting a proposal to end tariffs on U.S. agricultural imports as part of ongoing trade negotiations, with some opposition politicians getting on board.

Transcript

00:00Farmers gather outside the cabinet in the mid-May heat to protest.

00:09President Lai Qingde has proposed ending import duties on all U.S. farm products,

00:13part of his strategy to keep threatened American tariffs at bay.

00:17But these farmers say cheap U.S. imports, especially of rice,

00:20could kill hundreds of thousands of livelihoods.

00:23And they say they won't stand for it.

00:25The biggest name here today is Yang Rumen, the rice bomber,

00:32a man known for using shock to draw attention to farmers' problems.

00:38From 2003, this farmer set off a string of blasts in public places with homemade explosives.

00:45Taiwan had joined the World Trade Organization,

00:47and Yang wanted the government to consider the impact on farmers.

00:51No one was hurt, but Yang did do jail time.

00:53Today, he wants to let non-farmers know

00:56why they should care about the fate of local farms.

01:13He says farmers are not against imports or competition,

01:17but that trade terms must be fair and labeling must be clear,

01:20so those who want to buy local have the choice.

01:24After a series of other speakers, the protesters lay out three demands.

01:28Taiwan's food security shouldn't be up for negotiation,

01:31trade talks with the U.S. should be transparent,

01:33and Taiwan's farmers should have a role in the negotiations.

01:36The government's response to these demands is hard to gauge.

01:45A cabinet official comes out to formally take a petition listing these demands,

01:49but goes back in without comment.

01:51Taiwan Plus approached the Agriculture Ministry for a response,

01:54but the ministry declined.

01:56However, cabinet officials asked about the protest had this to say.

02:00But while the cabinet may or may not be listening to the farmers,

02:28some lawmakers are.

02:31It's just a short march over to the legislature,

02:33where four lawmakers are waiting to back the farmers.

02:36All come from the opposition bloc.

02:38Assign agricultural tariffs may be a new point of partisan division.

02:42The farmers here say they don't know how much Taiwan and the U.S.

02:56have actually talked about agricultural tariffs so far,

02:59but they're adamant that they won't back down.

03:02For now, the farmers will go back to their land.

03:27What if concrete tariff cuts go ahead?

03:30The rumble of discontent from the countryside could grow into something bigger.

03:35Fu Hua Hong and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

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