Cabinet 'confident' U.S. forced labor probe won't affect trade deal

Taipei, March 13 (CNA) The Cabinet said Friday it remains "confident" a new U.S. investigation into possible forced labor practices involving Taiwan will not affect the terms of a recent trade agreement.

On Thursday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launched separate investigations into the United States' 60 largest trading partners, including Taiwan, China, Japan and the European Union.

In a statement released Friday, the Cabinet said it believes the latest probe is unlikely to affect the "favorable terms" of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) signed by Taiwan and the U.S. last month.

"It is the government's abiding goal to bring labor standards in line with international norms," the Cabinet said. "The negotiation team led by Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) has exchanged views with the U.S. side and achieved a broad consensus [on the issue]."

Under the agreement, the two sides agreed to reduce U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20 percent to 15 percent without stacking them on top of Taiwanese exports already enjoying most-favored-nation (MFN) status, while granting the most favorable treatment to Taiwanese semiconductor exports.

Taiwan is also to provide greater market access for American cars, pork and beef, among other concessions.

According to the Cabinet, the Taiwanese government has taken steps to mitigate the risks of forced labor, including drafting a legal amendment that would prohibit employers from retaining migrant workers' identity documents, in line with international standards.

The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs will offer businesses guidance to ensure migrant worker recruitment processes and labor management comply with international norms, it said.

In addition, the Cabinet said Taiwan has pledged under the ART to ban imports of goods produced through forced labor and take steps to prevent forced labor in its industrial sector.

On Wednesday, Washington announced the initiation of Section 301 probes targeting 16 economies, including Taiwan, into excess capacity and overproduction in manufacturing.

• U.S. launches Section 301 probe into 16 trading partners including Taiwan

The Cabinet said that the successive Section 301 investigations are intended to provide a legal basis for global tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 declared the so-called "reciprocal" tariffs imposed by the Trump administration illegal.

It added that it is optimistic the findings of the Section 301 probes will further strengthen Taiwan's position in maintaining the benefits secured under the ART.

As of Friday, however, Taiwan had not received any formal information from the U.S. government about the legal status of the ART in the wake of the Supreme Court's Feb. 20 ruling.