While the ECFA certainly seems as if it would boost Taiwan's external trade, Academics argue that you must also account for the crucially important hidden costs, things like certificates of origin (see "What are rules of origin?" on next page) and other non-tariff barriers.
若從進出口金額看來，似乎簽 ECFA 對台灣有利，但學界認為還有許多看不見的成本，例如嚴格的「原產地證明」（見名詞解釋）、其他非關稅障礙等，影響相當關鍵，也必須一併考量。