00:01Taiwan's manufacturers have been really going through the ringer lately.
00:05Before this month, the garment industry had to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
00:10Those were supposed to be mitigated after Taipei and Washington inked a trade deal last month.
00:16But now, the war over Iran is taking its toll, causing a spike in the cost of fuel and raw
00:22materials.
00:23The oil is a crucial component in the garment industry. It's used in textile production and packaging.
00:40And Taiwan is highly reliant on the Middle East to get it.
00:44Producers feel double the pressure because their competitors may not face such constraints.
01:01When all is said and done, estimates say clothing might cost Taiwanese consumers 20% more than usual.
01:09Things are not much better when it comes to pharmaceuticals,
01:12which also rely heavily on oil-derived plastics for packaging.
01:16The products in theč£½ę, itsä¾ęé is veryē¹ē, and many.
01:20But we don't have to say, for example,ē³ę¼æ,
01:23water, or a drug. After it was done,
01:26it wasn't able to store a bottle. It was the last stage
01:32of the product. Producers have already
01:34told customers that they're raising prices due to the spike in packaging costs. If the supply chain difficulties
01:40turn into a full-blown shortage,
01:42then suppliers won't even be able to sell their products even if they wanted to
01:46because they'd have no way to package their goods.
01:49Middle East fossil fuels provide much more than just electricity to Taiwan.
01:54The cracks are already beginning to show for clothes and drugs,
01:57and it's not hard to imagine other industries may be facing similar pain.
02:01Scott Huang and Leslie Liao for Taiwan Plus.
02:04We'll see you next time.
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