﻿ Achieving trade parity necessitates action now - Taipei Times
Wed, Jul 23, 2008 - Page 8　News List  Achieving trade parity
necessitates action now  By Kuo Kuo-Hsing 郭國興  In the 1990s, the
US had a trade deficit with Taiwan of more than US$20 billion.
In response, the US used Section 301 of the US Trade Act to
impose trade sanctions on Taiwan.  Last year, the US had a trade
deficit of more than US$256 billion with China. US President
George W. Bush’s administration has vowed to reduce this deficit
and Congress has been applying constant pressure on Beijing
while also trying to punish China economically.  The US is a
market-based capitalist economy and its huge trade deficit with
China is potentially dangerous for Taiwan. The government should
take early action to minimize risk, otherwise Taiwan could very
well lose the increasingly large trade surplus it has with
China.  Last year, Taiwan had a 60 percent investment ratio in
China, China’s export dependence on Taiwan was more than 40
percent and Taiwan’s tra