AMCHAM'S CALL ON TAIWAN TO OPEN MARKET TO US PORK UPSETS PIG FARMERS|美商會籲開放美豬換FTA 國內豬農反彈

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei suggested that the Taiwanese government open its market to US pork and beef in order to conclude an FTA with the United States. The Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that the two sides have not reached any consensus and that it needs further deliberation. Pig farmers in Taiwan pay a high cost to raise their pigs. The AmCham Taipei's proposal to allow US pork imports in exchange of an FTA may have offended them. ==LIAO CHUAN-CHI pig farmer== If the government agrees to open the market for US pork import, the price for Taiwanese pork will drop miserably. It will be a huge impact. ==CHANG SHENG-CHIN Secretary-General, R.O.C. Swine Association== We will certainly protest against this. Pig farming can be considered as a sunset industry. We are at a disadvantage against imports from overseas. We cannot compare with them. Taiwanese pig farmers produced a total market value of NT$71.3 billion in 2016, but the market has been declining year on year. The Ministry of Economic Affairs emphasized that a long-term planning will be required before opening the market to US pork and that no progress has been made regarding an FTA with the US. ==WANG MEI-HUA Vice Minister of Economic Affairs== You might think that there is this thing with no progress, but the way we see it is that it has not started yet. There is no beginning to it. It's not wrong to talk about it, though. According to the MOEA, trade between Taiwan and the US are currently discussed under the existing framework of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). Scholars believed that the FTA will not be concluded without opening the market to US pork and beef. ==LIU DA-NIEN Dir. of Regional development Center, CIER== The political hurdles must be cleared. Economic problems are difficult to solve. That means Taiwan still has a long way to go. According to Dr. Liu, allowing US pork import is both an economic and political issue. It is unrealistic to think that giving the green light to US pork will help conclude the FTA with the US. The pressure from China is also an issue. TRANSLATED BY：LUKE CHIANG 美國總統川普上任後，中止TPP多邊貿易政策，未來台美雙邊貿易協定，該怎麼談，美國商會建議應該開放美豬、美牛，台美簽訂FTA才有希望！ 不過經濟部表示，目前台美雙邊貿易已有TIFA，"台美貿易暨投資架構協定"屬於架構性協議，台美洽簽FTA暫時無共識，目前零進度！ 至於是否考慮開放美豬換取FTA，經濟部強調還需要長期規劃 來回巡視，餵食豬隻，國內養豬成本高，光設備要符合環評標準，就得花一筆錢，飼料更是全仰賴進口，利潤已大不如前，因此對於美國商會再拋出開放美豬，換取FTA議題，他們很反感． ==雲林豬農 廖詮基== 政府如果再和美國 這個進口(豬)肉讓它進來 我們毛豬的價格一定會大崩盤 影響會非常大 ==中華民國養豬協會秘書長 張生金== 我們是一定是反對到底 養豬產業可以算是一個 夕陽工業啦 夕陽事業它是一個弱勢團體 跟國外進口比的話 我們是無法比 根據養豬協會表示，全台養豬戶，約7609戶，以雲嘉南等六縣市為主，雖然數量不多，但105年產值規模仍有713億，但近年產值萎縮，逐年下降！而目前美豬，國內還是限制進口，政府要求萊克多巴胺零檢出，至於未來是否開放進口，經濟部強調需長期規劃，並強調台美FTA目前零進度． ==經濟部次長 王美花== 有這麼一件事情進度是零 可能你的想法是這樣 但我們的認知是說 因為還沒有... 確實是還沒有開始 來談這件事情是沒有錯啦 目前台美貿易，已有TIFA，"台美貿易暨投資架構協定"，因此經濟部表示，只會就現有架構來談，而學者表示，台美要洽簽FTA，美豬美牛開放進口無法避免,另外還有許多台美雙邊,投資與技術性貿易障礙都是未來談判重點. ==中經院區域中心主任 劉大年== 你的政治的環節要打通 經濟的問題要解決 困難度是比較高的 所以說台灣 還有很長的一段路要走 學者認為，開放美豬既是經濟議題，也是政治議題，開放進口就能換取台美FTA，這樣想法太單單純，恐怕來自中國施壓，也可能是台美雙邊貿易障礙因素之一．記者 黃立偉 陳立峰 王威雄綜合報導