Taiwan, China to Sign Trade Pact

Taiwan and China, still formally in a state of war, have agreed to sign a far reaching trade agreement that will lower tariffs on important industrial goods and open sectors such as banking to greater liberalization and competition. In the process, greater stability and perhaps even a peace accord may be in the cards.

Taiwan, China to Sign Trade Pact - WSJ.com

American Culture Strikes Again

This clip is from the Taiwanese version of Idol, March 13 edition. It's fair to say that a large number in the audience has no idea what the singer is saying, but they enjoyed it anyway. And even if you don't speak a lick of Mandarin, check out the judges comments at the end of the performance. So serious! And the audience is so polite!

Costco in Taiwan

The Costco in Taiwan imports dough for its NY-style bagels from the U.S., so the bagels taste exactly as they do in New York and the store sells 54,000 of them every week. But along with bagels, the store also sells sea cucumber and braised beef noodle soup. That may explain why there's always a long line to get into Taiwan's only warehouse store, and why the Taiwan outlet is Costco's second most profitable store in the world (the most profitable is in Korea). Private label brands (Kirkland) and a return policy are all new innovations in this market, and the company hopes the lessons learned here will help it conquer its next Asian target: China.

Asian Economies Continue to Boom

Last week Singapore and Japan both reported stronger-than-expected economic growth, and this week Thailand and Taiwan followed the same trend. Thailand's GDP grew at the quickest pace in 10 years, expanding 3.6% in the fourth quarter. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, the Thai economy grew 15.3%.

The pace in Taiwan was even more startling. Fourth quarter growth was 9.22%, yielding an annual growth of 18%.

U.S. companies like Huntsman and Goodyear are seeing dramatic growth in multiple Asian countries, and much slower growth in Europe and the U.S. Expect the trend to continue, with more and more companies attracted to high growth markets in lieu of smaller and slower economies.




Thailand, Taiwan Post Strong GDP Growth - WSJ.com

Taiwan Bans Some U.S. Beef

Taiwan has decided to reimpose a partial ban on U.S. beef. The ban extends to minced beef, cow offal (?), and all beef from cattle over 30 months old. The ban is imposed under a health and sanitation law, which I suppose makes it legal under international rules. The U.S. is not happy, claiming that the ban isn't based on scientific evidence and in fact may be illegal under international treaties in place.

Taiwan Agrees to Reinstate Partial U.S. Beef Ban - ABC News