U.S. fears interference from company's Chinese customers: Nikkei Asian Review

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Fearing interference from China, the Pentagon wants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to produce military-grade chips in the United States, the Nikkei Asian Review reported Wednesday (Jan. 15).

The world’s top contract chip maker makes components for both the U.S. Air Force’s F-35 fighter jet and for China’s electronics giant Huawei Technologies, which has been embroiled in allegations about its close connections to the communist country’s military establishment.

TSMC was reportedly being pressured to either reach a decision before November’s U.S. presidential election to manufacture in that country or to come up with another acceptable solution, the Japanese publication reported.

An unnamed senior Taiwanese government official said the U.S. was not planning to compromise on the demand to produce chips destined for military projects on U.S. soil, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/16/2020
By: Liao Yu-yang and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) The first phase of a trade agreement signed by the United States and China Wednesday will have only a limited impact on Taiwan's economy, according to an initial assessment by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The bilateral deal, which is being billed as "phase one" of a comprehensive trade agreement, was signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (劉鶴) in Washington, dialing down roughly a year and a half of trade hostilities between the world's two largest economies.

On Thursday, however, the MOEA downplayed the deal's potential impact on the domestic economy, noting its limited scale, as well as the significant barriers that remain before a second, more comprehensive phase of the agreement can be reached.

In an interview with CNA, Vice Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that in phase one of the deal, a number of U.S. tariffs will remain in place, thus reducing the immediate impact on Taiwanese manufacturers.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/14/2020
By: Wu Po-wei, Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) Taiwan's central bank said Tuesday that it will continue to communicate with the United States authorities after the latest foreign exchange report released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury a day earlier indicates Taiwan is close to the threshold of being placed on the currency monitoring list.

The central bank said Taiwan and the United States have already established a communications channel to ensure the U.S. side has a better understanding of Taipei's foreign exchange market.

In the latest semiannual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States, Taiwan stayed off the U.S. currency monitoring list, but the U.S. Treasury report said Taipei is "close to triggering key thresholds" to be put on the list.

Taiwan was removed from the currency monitoring list in October 2017, which the central bank attributed to its efforts to reduce intervention in currency markets.    [FULL  STORY]

Small- and medium-sized enterprises are a pillar of Taiwan’s economy: NASME head

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/13
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s corporate world on Monday (Jan. 13) urged the Tsai government to put aside its differences with the opposition and resume the long-halted dialogue with China to create a better business environment following Saturday's elections.

Lee Yu-chia (李育家), head of the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME, 中小企業總會), said there are 147,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan. Accounting for 97.8 percent of total companies in the island country, they constitute a pillar of its economy, he emphasized.

Nevertheless, at least 70 percent of the SMEs are struggling to cope with the challenges arising in an era characterized by the Internet of Things (IoT), e-commerce, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, and other new technologies that require upgrading and transformation, UDN quoted him as saying.

Lee proposed three measures that the government should adopt to help SMEs adapt in an increasingly competitive world: Tax incentives that encourage research and development, smart manufacturing, and digital transformation.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/13/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) Taiwan's workers saw their total earnings adjusted for inflation rise in the first 11 months of 2019 from a year earlier despite real wages remaining at a level seen in 2003, according to figures from Taiwan's statistics bureau.

Real average monthly earnings, which include regular wages plus bonuses, overtime pay and other irregular income not issued on a monthly basis, totaled NT$52,275 in the first 11 months of 2019, up 1.49 year-on-year, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Monday.

Real average wages, which only cover base salary and other regular forms of pay such as monthly subsidies for transportation and other expenses, totaled NT$40,793 in the January to November period, up 1.70 percent from a year earlier, the DGBAS figures showed.

Though real wages were slightly below the NT$40,885 level seen for the same period in 2003, real earnings were about 5.5 percent higher than the 2003 level, indicating that long-term wage gains are coming mainly from gains in bonuses and other irregular income.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan fast food restaurants adjust product prices due to inflation

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/10
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following fast-food chain KFC's announcement of price hikes on Friday (Jan.10), other popular restaurants, such as McDonald’s and Burger King, have also decided to raise their product prices in Taiwan.

KFC Taiwan said Thursday (Jan. 9) that the price adjustment was a reflection of the rising costs of operation as some of its items see an average 3.4 percent price raise. McDonald's said that the company's decision to hike prices was largely due to inflation, but the company will also lower the prices for some of its popular items, reported CNA.    [FULL  STORY]