TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Switzerland's World Trade Institute (WTI) held a seminar titled "Trade Wars and their Impact on Global Trade and Small Economics" with the Chung-Hua Institution of Economic Research (CIER) on Thursday (Nov. 21) to discuss Taiwan's importance in the U.S.-China tariff war.

The conference was held in the Swiss capital of Bern, with the impact of the trade war on Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific at large as one of the key focuses. Nearly 70 scholars from Swiss universities, government officials, and World Trade Organization (WTO) representatives from a variety of countries participated in the discussion.

After being introduced by WTI Research Director Peter van den Bossche in his opening address, Taiwan's representative to Switzerland, David Huang (黃偉峰), took the stage and expressed his excitement to see the CIER collaborating with the WTI. He said he hoped both organizations could continue to cultivate opportunities for informational exchange in the future, reported CNA.

During the seminar, CIER Deputy Director Wang Jiann-Chyuan(王健全) and Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Studies Center, took turns introducing Taiwan's social and economic structures and country's role in the trade war. They pointed out that Taiwan provides a complete supply chain in Southeast Asia and that the homecoming of Taiwanese enterprises has put the island in an even more critical position.

International experts deliberated on how the WTO's arbitration mechanism could be better implemented as well as what regulations need to be established to prevent further damage to the global economy. They also compared the U.S.-China trade war to the trade tensions between the U.S. and European countries in the 1930s in an effort to seek suitable solutions.