Huaxia Jingwei.com reported on January 1: According to Taiwan's China Times News Network, the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (RCEP) led by mainland China and jointly signed by 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region officially came into effect on January 1, but Taiwan was excluded, which had an adverse impact on the industry. Liu Danian, director of the Regional Development Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Economic Research, pointed out that Taiwan cannot join RCEP, which has a greater impact on traditional industries than on the electronics industry. "This is a serious problem to face."
RCEP is a high-level free trade agreement initiated by ASEAN 10 countries, plus 5 countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand that have free trade agreements with ASEAN, totaling 15 countries. RCEP aims to establish a unified market free trade agreement by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers.
It is worth noting that the trade volume between mainland China and RCEP member countries accounts for about one-third of China's total trade volume. This is the first time that China and Japan have reached a free trade arrangement. The two sides have significantly reduced tariffs in multiple fields such as machinery and equipment, electronic information, chemical industry, light industry and textiles, especially in 2022, China's 57% of the tax number products exported to Japan will immediately achieve zero tariffs.
Liu Danian pointed out that Taiwan's communication products enjoy zero export tariffs due to the Information Technology Agreement, which accounts for about three-quarters of exports and is relatively unaffected by RCEP. However, traditional industrial goods that account for about one-quarter of the exports in RCEP countries will be affected by tariffs. Although some of them are included in the early collection list of the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Structure Agreement (ECFA), due to the mainland's domestic demand market, it has absorbed a lot of exports, which can alleviate some of the impact. But in the long run, the early collection list is not comprehensive, and the tariff disadvantage will always appear. From the past history, the proportion of these industries in exports has declined due to tariff factors.
Industry Association pointed out that after the formation of RCEP, the supply chain cooperation in East Asia will be closer. For example, upstream parts suppliers in the automotive industry come from Northeast Asia and are connected to industrial partners in ASEAN, South Asia and other places to jointly produce. Therefore, the impact of Taiwan's inability to participate in regional integration, in addition to tariffs, also includes changes in foreign trade models and supply chain restructuring, which may especially lead to a shift in investment. The "government" must continue to strive to participate in important regional economic agreements, and should re-develop response measures.
Liu Danian pointed out that the 10 ASEAN countries had signed free trade agreements (FTA), and RCEP was just adding something more to it. The greater significance of RCEP's entry into force is to successfully connect mainland China and Japan, Japan and South Korea, two groups of countries that were difficult to sign bilateral FTAs in the past. After the entry into effect, it will inevitably drive intra-regional trade. How to avoid the continued decline in market share in petrochemical, machinery, textile and other industries is a serious problem to face.
As the new crown epidemic accelerates the advent of the digital economy era, the Taiwan Industry Corporation recommends that the "government" can assist enterprises in cooperation with overseas e-commerce to develop the RCEP market, such as cooperation with e-commerce powerhouses such as Japan, Singapore, the United States, EU , India, Israel, etc., to expand the e-commerce market in RCEP countries. (End)
