台灣加入WTO後的新情勢

Taiwan After the WTO Accession

台灣成為WTO第144個會員。入會後台灣獲得「最惠國」和「國民待遇」，得以參與制定WTO規範，利用爭端解決機制處理貿易糾紛，刺激產業結構調整，增進全民福祉。然而，苦等多時的入會卻在經濟不景氣時到來，台灣面臨如何確定創造將伴隨破壞而來的重大挑戰。台灣農業不具國際競爭力，農業成為台灣入會的最大輸家。除爭取過渡性的保護政策，政府編列30億美元逐年補貼休耕農地，訓練、協助農民轉業。工業是台灣入會中的贏家。然而被視為台灣最具競爭力的資訊業也漸外移，廠商必須不斷追求其技術及製程創新、增加知識密集度，才能維持其優勢。服務業產值已佔台灣GDP的65.6%，就業人口達全國勞動力55%，但台灣在全球商業服務貿易上仍屬入超，競爭力有待改善。儘管台灣與大陸間貿易限制重重，貿易量卻逐年增加，大陸現已躍居台灣最大出口市場，台灣對香港及大陸順差依存度高達350.8%，另，台商亦已在大陸投資近千億美元。台灣企圖以政策限制避免兩岸經濟糾葛，預防北京用以政治威脅，但經濟糾葛確已存在，端視台灣的權衡判斷。兩岸皆取得WTO會籍，本是加強經貿的契機。但台北與北京都賦予多邊的WTO太多的雙邊政治意涵，兩岸都應讓貿易回歸貿易。

Taiwan finally acceded to the WTO. With the membership, Taiwan is entitled to Most-Favored Nation and National Treatments from other WTO members, can participate in world trade rule making, or have its trade dispute settled by the WTO mechanism. The increased international competition coming with the accession will bring in better-quality goods with lower prices, and is also an opportunity to push for industrial restructuring. The accession, however, came at a time of recession, and Taiwan faces tremendous challenge to make sure that creation come with the destruction. Taiwan's agriculture is not internationally competitive; hence the agricultural sector is a big loser in the accession. The government slated 3 billion US dollars to help the sector. Industry is a winner, but even the most competitive information industry is gradually moving out. Taiwanese manufacturers have to keep innovating and increase knowledge content to maintain their competitiveness. Service output constitutes 65.6% of Taiwan's GDP, and hires 55% of total labors, but Taiwan has a deficit in service trade, its competitiveness in service has a great room for improvement. Even though lots of restrictions are imposed on trade between Taiwan and the PRC, the volume has increased every year. The PRC is now the largest export market for Taiwan. Taiwan's surplus dependence on the PRC and Hong Kong is as high as 350.8%, and Taiwanese business has invested more than a hundred billion US, dollars on the Mainland. The ROC government tries to avoid cross-strait economic entanglement in fear of Beijing's political blackmail; the entanglement nonetheless exists. Both Taipei and Beijing entered the WTO. The world trade body could serve as a bridge in the cross-strait interactions, but the two sides read too much bilateral politics into the multilateral WTO. Only if they let trade be trade, could a win-win situation be created.