1988 FIN – Taiwan Encouraging Investment in the U.S.
By Dick Callahan
March 25, 1988 FIN – Taiwan’s Industrial Development & Investment Center of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has established a task force and investement company to assist Taiwanese fastener manufacturers to invest in the U.S.
The investment project is a joint venture of the Bank of Communications, state-owned steel producer China Steel Corp., Chinese National Federations of Industries and the Taiwan Industrial Fastener Institute.
Funding is shared by the government (49%) and by the private sector (51%).
Taiwan is now the major source of imported fasteners in the U.S. – and a lot of other countries. FIN’s latest figures indicate that in 1987, Taiwanese fasteners imported here totaled $258,438,000 in values, representing a volume of 527,173,000 lbs. The 1987 numbers were up from $187,359,000 and 447,343,000 lbs. for 1986.
By comparison, in 1987 the Japanese shipped $355,494,000 worth of fasteners, representing a volume of 433,074,000 lbs. – compared with $352,009,000 and 497,074,000 lbs for 1986.
Accounting for the higher dollar figure for the Japanese products was the appreciation of the yen, which has greatly outpaced the appreciation of the new Taiwanese dollar against the greenback.
If you’re still holding that thought about the phrase “investing” in the U.S., you may wonder just what that investment might mean.
At present, Taiwan has foreign reserves of around $75 billion. Until recently, the Taiwanese government severely restricted overseas investment, but some of those restrictions have been lifted in the past year.
According to a January 11. 1988, Business Week article, Taiwanese companies by 1991 will spend $2.4 billion on direct investments in the U.S. – compared with only $163 million between 1959 and 1968).
There are over 500 Taiwanese fastener manufacturers. One of these days, we may hear that one of them plans to set up shop here in the States.
Editor’s Note: From October 22-26, 1988, the first International Fastener, Production, Machinery, Material & Technology Exhibition – or Fastener ’88 for short – will take place at the Taipei World Trade Center. ©1988/2010 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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