Taiwan to fight Chinese origin fraud aimed at tariff evasion: MOEA

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) The government is hoping to thwart Chinese circumvention of American tariffs by taking measures to prevent Chinese goods from using Taiwan for false origin claims, Economic Affairs Minister Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) said Wednesday.

The measures include imposing a fine of up to NT$3 million (US$92,245) on violators of origin rules, Kuo said at a hearing of the Legislative Yuan's Economics Committee.

Kuo said that how well the government tackles the practice of "transshipping" to misrepresent imported goods' country of origin to skirt import duties is crucial to whether Taiwan can gain the trust of the United States in bilateral trade deal negotiations.

He reiterated measures he first broached last Thursday to address the issue, including monitoring of imports, imposing stricter penalties, and strengthening anti-dumping investigations. Violators could be fined up to NT$3 million, Kuo said.

The promotion of the measures has been targeted at fastener and machine tool industries because some of their materials are imported from China for processing in Taiwan.

According to the Foreign Trade Act, should an exporter/importer falsely label their products' country of origin, they could be issued a warning, given an administrative fine from NT$60,000 to NT$3 million or ordered to suspend business.

In the most serious cases, they could have their export/import registration revoked.

To keep companies from committing violations due to unfamiliarity with country of origin rules, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said it held a meeting on the topic Tuesday attended by more than 600 people representing the machinery, electronics, metals, and other sectors.

The Ministry of Finance said in a report presented at a hearing of the Legislature's Finance Committee, meanwhile, that it has set up a task force to strengthen inspections of illegal transshipments at customs to prevent the use of Taiwan as a base for re-exports to the U.S. to avoid higher duties.

The ministry will also actively collect domestic and foreign intelligence to identify suspicious manufacturers and products and analyze violation patterns through big data, according to the report.

It will also study the feasibility of rewarding informants who report violations, according to Customs Administration Director General Peng Ying-wei (彭英偉), who attended the legislative session Wednesday.