US-Taiwan Trade Talks to Begin
The U.S. announced it is starting negotiations with Taiwan on trade facilitation, sanitary and photosanitary regulations for agricultural imports, digital trade, and coordinating to confront non-market practices. The U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade is similar to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in its scope, but Taiwan was not invited to join IPEF negotiations.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
On trade facilitation, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it will be working for Taiwan to accelerate its implementation of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, as well as negotiating on risk management, electronic payments and support for small companies' access to technology used for the clearance of goods.
With regard to non-market practices, the statement from USTR said: "The United States and Taiwan recognize the significant distortions that can occur to international trade and investment from non-market practices of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises as well as government designated monopolies. The two sides seek to develop provisions to create a level playing field for workers and businesses when competing against these entities in the international marketplace, including by ensuring that these entities act in a commercial manner, are regulated impartially, and do not provide or receive trade-distorting non-commercial assistance."
It also said Taiwan and the U.S. would "collaborate on ways to address ... harmful non-market policies and practices."
Senior government officials who described the trade initiative declined to say why Taiwan is not included in the IPEF, but China views Taiwan as a renegade province, and technically, the U.S. does not recognize it as an independent country.
The Commerce Department also will be meeting with Taiwanese officials about coordinating export controls and on supply chain issues, just as that department has jurisdiction over those issues in the IPEF.
The government officials said because the U.S. will not be lowering its tariffs as part of the trade initiative -- nor will it be asking Taiwan to do so -- there will be no need for a congressional vote on the negotiations' outcome, but that USTR would be consulting with Congress.