Premier Cho seeks support for NT$410 billion tariff-countering bill

Taipei, April 28 (CNA) Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) met with ruling and opposition party lawmakers on Monday to rally support for a government-proposed bill partly aimed at mitigating any negative effects of impending American tariffs.

Cho said the NT$410 billion (US$12.6 billion) special bill is intended not only to respond to tariff adjustments announced by the Trump administration but to bolster Taiwan's economic, social and homeland security resilience "in response to international developments."

The premier said the funding would come from budget surpluses of previous years and "won't increase the government's debt" through new borrowing.

According to Cho, the bill allocates NT$93 billion for industry and employment support, NT$150 billion for strengthening homeland security resilience, and NT$167 billion for social welfare measures, including subsidies for electricity costs and insurance fund injections.

The funds supporting industry include NT$12 billion in interest subsidies for trade financing, NT$5 billion for expanded small business loan guarantees, and NT$25 billion for research and development grants for businesses, Cho said.

The homeland security budget would fund new patrol vessels to counter Chinese "gray zone" maritime activities, build new storage and backup facilities for critical supplies, and upgrade Taiwan's cybersecurity defenses, he said.

Subsidies would also be provided to cover electricity costs that state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) has absorbed over the past three years, with NT$100 billion budgeted for that purpose.

Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁), caucus whip of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), told Cho that his party supported actions to counter U.S. tariffs, but he expressed concern that only 23 percent of the funding was directly linked to trade measures.

Fu suggested that "non-urgent parts" of the special bill, such as the subsidies for Taipower, could be proposed separately through a standard supplementary budget or other process.

KMT caucus secretary-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) criticized the act's expansion from NT$88 billion to NT$410 billion and questioned why industry assistance increased only from NT$88 billion to NT$93 billion despite the larger overall growth.

The Cabinet first pledged a NT$88 billion relief package on April 4 to help Taiwanese exporters survive the adverse impact of a 32 percent tariff on their goods, which was announced by Trump a day earlier.

Wang said it was "worrying" that government support for affected businesses, farmers, and workers remained insufficient given the scale of the expected economic impact.

She also questioned why the government was proposing to inject another NT$100 billion into Taipower after the Legislative Yuan had previously slashed similar subsidies.

Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), caucus whip of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), told Cho his party "100 percent" supported financial assistance for businesses and workers, but he criticized the government for failing to provide a detailed impact assessment report.

Huang suggested the government was attempting to "smuggle" previous spending proposals, such as the Taipower subsidy, into the new special act without sufficient justification.

TPP deputy caucus convener Chang Chi-kai (張啓楷) said the budget violated fiscal discipline by blending unrelated projects into an urgent bill intended as a response to tariffs.

Cho said the government's goal is to negotiate tariffs with the United States at rates "no higher than those [imposed by the U.S.] on competitor countries," while maintaining Taiwan's industrial competitiveness and safeguarding consumer habits.