Gasgoo.com (Shanghai January 27) - In the second wave of Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) talks, expected to be held after Chinese New Year, Taiwan is expected to place quota controls on automobiles imported from the mainland, the China Securities Journal reported today.
Through the ECFA pact, Chinese manufacturers still expect Taiwan automobile sales can surpass 10,000 units. According to Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), discussions will focus on quota management and security assessments, among other topics.
Automobiles didn't make it into the list of goods covered by the ECFA during last year's talks, causing many Taiwanese car dealers, fearing the pressure of mainland competition, to hang their heads in defeat. An unnamed source within the MOEA said, "Time was limited [during the previous talks]. Both sides expressed interest in waiting until the second round of discussions on reducing taxes to manage the issue."
"[If] Taiwanese cars enter the mainland, it will help Taiwanese auto enterprises as well as be of aid to the economy..., but if mainland cars come to Taiwan, it will be a threat to the domestic economy." The source stressed that the scale of both area's automobiles sales are very uneven. He pointed out that while mainland automobiles sales exceeded 170 million, Taiwanese businesses only managed to sell 300 to 400 thousand cars. "Taiwan will use a quota system (to open the market) and hopes that the mainland will adhere [to the system]," he said.
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, seen as an important stepping stone to reconciliation between the mainland and Taiwan, came into effect last September. Other topics to be discussed in the second round of talks include faceplates and cement products.
