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Taiwan eyes TIFA talks at APEC

“Given the close economic relations between the two sides, Taiwan hopes to discuss many bilateral trade issues with the US, including the TIFA talks.” — Huang Chih-peng, Bureau of Foreign Trade director-general

Taiwan will propose holding talks with the US under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) during bilateral meetings on the sidelines of an APEC summit in Singapore, an official said yesterday.

“Given the close economic relations between the two sides, Taiwan hopes to discuss many bilateral trade issues with the US, including the TIFA talks,” Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬) said.

Huang is in Singapore for a two-day meeting that marks the start of the annual APEC Leaders’ Week activities. The meeting of senior officials precedes meetings with ministers and leaders.

In the absence of diplomatic ties, the TIFA talks have become the most important channel for the Taiwan-US dialogue on trade and economic issues.

The annual TIFA talks are usually hosted alternately by Taiwan and the US. However, they have been suspended since 2007 because of differences between the two sides on a number of issues, including Taiwan’s ban on some US beef products.

Taiwan agreed last month to lift the ban on imports of US bone-in beef and ground beef, as well as bovine intestines, brains, spinal cords and processed beef from cattle younger than 30 months, but the decision drew flak at home, with local governments threatening to boycott the products.

Asked whether Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-hsiang (施顏祥) would bring up the TIFA issue with the US representative at the APEC ministerial meeting that will follow the senior officials’ meeting, Huang said, “That’s right, he will come up with a proposal” for resuming TIFA talks.

But Taiwan’s representatives will not take the initiative to address the beef trade issue in their talks with their US counterparts on the APEC sidelines, Huang said, adding that beef importation is a bilateral issue and he cannot make any forecasts about problems that might develop.

The senior officials’ meeting began yesterday and is tasked with preparing the agenda and related documents for the ministerial and leaders’ meetings.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) designated former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) as his special envoy for the APEC summit, which has a theme this year of “Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region.”

This will be the second consecutive year that Lien, also a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, represents Taiwan at the APEC leaders summit.

He is expected to hold talks with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the summit.
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