Taiwan opposition KMT's tariff-countering bill to give cash handouts

Taipei, May 6 (CNA)A bill proposed by the main opposition party Kuomintang's (KMT) legislative caucus on Tuesday to cushion the impact of U.S. tariffs on Taiwan's economy includes giving cash handouts to Taiwanese citizens.

At a news conference in Taipei, the KMT caucus unveiled the bill that would allow the central government to allocate up to NT$390 billion (US$12.94 billion) for various measures aimed at countering the impact of U.S. tariffs on Taiwan's industrial and agricultural sectors, as well as on the broader economy.

A key provision of the bill mandates that the government issue a cash handout of NT$10,000 to each Taiwanese national, with the total cost estimated to be NT$230 billion, before the end of October. It was unclear whether the bill also intended to give the handout to non-citizen permanent or other residents in Taiwan.

KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) told the press event that distributing cash handouts could help Taiwanese people cope with economic turbulence brought about by U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to impose heavy levies on Taiwanese goods. It could also boost the local economy by stimulating consumption, Wang said.

Trump announced a 32 percent "reciprocal tariff" on most Taiwanese products in early April, but the sweeping tariff was later put on pause for 90 days and replaced with a reduced import tax of 10 percent that applied to most countries.

Unlike the Cabinet's version introduced on April 24, the KMT's bill does not include NT$100 billion in funding for Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) to cover its financial losses.

KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), instead, called on the government to revise its current energy policy, given that Taipower had failed to resolve its financial problems even though it had received government aid for several consecutive years.

Taipower had accumulated deficits as much as NT$420 billion by the end of 2024 despite the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's repeated injection of funds into the state-run company from its annual budgets.

The Cabinet has said the latest attempt to fund Taipower was part of government efforts to respond to the U.S. tariff shocks, arguing that it would help stabilize consumer prices and ease the burden on Taiwanese industries.

The Cabinet's NT$410 billion authorization bill also includes NT$150 billion in funding for measures to strengthen Taiwan's security, in addition to a NT$93 billion support package that was first proposed after the Trump administration announced the tariffs.

On Monday, the legislative caucus of the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP) also proposed its version of the bill, which includes NT$6,000 cash handouts for Taiwanese citizens and leaves out aid for Taipower.

Asked to comment on the opposition parties' calls to offer cash handouts to people, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told reporters at the Legislature on Tuesday that it was "not the most effective or the best" approach the country needed currently, but he didn't elaborate.