Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/14
By: Chang Chien-chung, Pan Tzu-yu and Chung Yu-chen

CNA file photo

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) Taiwanese companies in China that manufacture telecommunications devices and computers are likely to be hit hard in the escalating trade war between the United States and China, as such products are the prime targets of the U.S.’ latest wave of proposed tariffs, a leading technology research and development institute in Taiwan said Tuesday.

One official at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) made the comment in a phone interview with CNA after the U.S. on Monday released a new list of about US$300 billion worth of Chinese products, including information and communications technology products such as cellphones and laptops, which it is threatening to hit with tariffs of up to 25 percent.

Expressing similar views, Roy Chun Lee (李淳), deputy director of the Taiwan World Trade Organization and Regional Trade Agreements Center of the Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that if the threatened tariffs are implemented, the effects will be grimmer than the first round of U.S. tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods last year.

This time, China-based Taiwanese manufacturers like Hon Hai Precision Industry, which assembles iPhones for Apple Inc., and Quanta Computer will be the first to suffer if the U.S.-China trade war exacerbates, Lee said.    [FULL  STORY]