Taipei, April 8 (CNA) Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) will brief the Legislature on April 11 on the Cabinet’s plans to support Taiwanese businesses set to be hit hard by sweeping U.S. tariffs, according to the conclusion of inter-party negotiations in the Legislature on Tuesday.
During the talks, lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) agreed to invite Cho and other Cabinet members to report and field questions in the next meeting on the legislative floor.
The agreement came a day after Cho said he would detail the Cabinet’s NT$88 billion (US$2.66 billion) proposal aimed at mitigating the impact of a 32 percent import tax expected to be placed on most Taiwanese goods starting Wednesday, in a bid to secure lawmakers’ backing.
Cho unveiled the support plans last week, which will be funded through a special budget and so require legislative approval.
The government plans to spend NT$70 billion on measures such as lowering loan interest rates, reducing administrative costs and expanding tax exemptions for Taiwanese industries affected by the pledged tariff.
The NT$70 billion will also be used to help enterprises diversifying their markets and invest in research and development, according to the Cabinet.
Under the plans, the remaining NT$18 billion will be allocated to support the agricultural sector through loans, interest subsidies, equipment subsidies, and other measures.
In a pre-recorded address on Monday, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said the government would seek to negotiate with Washington for “bilateral zero-tariff treatment.”
In addition, the president promised to expand purchases of American products to reduce trade imbalances between the two sides and address other non-tariff trade barriers highlighted by the U.S.
On Tuesday, ruling and opposition party lawmakers also agreed to hold a revote on recently passed measures that will effectively raise retirement pensions for policemen, firefighters and other members of law enforcement and the emergency services.
Cho’s Cabinet requested the revote last week in an attempt to overturn the amendments to the Police Personnel Management Act adopted with the backing of KMT and TPP lawmakers.
The Cabinet has argued that the measures will “impact the financial stability” of the public service pension system and undermine its fairness, and subsequently affect the rights of both acting and retired public servants.
The amendments include retroactive measures raising the income replacement rate for retired police officers, firefighters, immigration officers, and personnel in the Coast Guard and the National Air Service Corps to as much as 80 percent.
Currently, the pension plans for law enforcement and emergency services personnel are the same as other public servants, with the cap on the income replacement rate set to gradually decrease to 60 percent by 2029.
