台湾830项农产品开放与ECFA的深化

The 830 Chinese Agricultural Products Importation and ECFA

面对自由贸易的浪潮,台湾贸易自由化的第一道考验是ECFA的深化。在禁止自中国大陆进口的830项农产品当中,台湾可以先开放本身并没有生产及生产极少而需从第三国进口之农产品,将其从830项管制进口名单中剃除。如此并不影响该项产业与就业,却可据此在后续之ECFA的深化谈判中,要求中国大陆对等开放,特别是开放那些台湾有出口竞争力之农产品出口至中国大陆。如此互惠性开放彼此市场,将为台湾的农业创造更大的产值和就业机会,也是台湾农业的升级、转型的契机。重要的是,台湾是以较小的市场换大市场,整体获利也会倍于对岸。更重要的是,台湾应该把ECFA的深化下的中国大陆,当做台湾将来与他国签署FTA时农业必须开放前的转型的一个绝佳练兵和缓冲之机会。

Facing the tides of free trade agreement, the first trial for Taiwan is to go deep into the ECFA. Among the 830 banned agricultural products imported from mainland Chinese, Taiwan may find that it is favorable to open import of those agriculture products that have not been produced at all in Taiwan, or have rarely been produced that most are imported from the third parties. By doing so, it would not affect the local agriculture sector and associate employment on one hand. On the other hand, in the further negotiation with China with regards to the ECFA, Taiwan can leverage this openness to request China’s reciprocal openness of her agriculture market. With the reciprocal openness, each can access the other market. Nevertheless, Taiwan can benefit more from the ECFA than China in terms of employment and consumer surplus, because the latter’s market is much larger than the former’s. As a result, the ECFA in fact should help Taiwan’s agriculture sector upgrade and structure transformation to a better stage.