Taiwan’s economic growth could suffer collateral damage: Beddor
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/22
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The most serious external threat to Taiwan’s economy might not be China, but United States President Donald Trump’s trade war against the communist country, Reuters columnist Christopher Beddor wrote Wednesday.
In an article titled “Trump’s tariffs threaten Taiwan’s lucky streak,” the author says the U.S. tariffs on Chinese products might “inflict serious collateral damage” on the island nation’s economy.
While President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has invested in infrastructure and reformed labor laws, 1.7 percent of the second quarter’s 3.3 percent economic growth was the result of net exports, Beddor wrote. Investment has struggled, while trade also accounted for “more or less all of the island’s growth in the second half of last year as well.”
Beddor noted that exporters might have speeded up some of their production to come out ahead of the July 6 first round of Trump’s tariffs, but Taiwan’s export boom was unlikely to last. [FULL STORY]