Taiwan and the US are still discussing when to hold the next round of talks under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
“We’re still discussing it with the US,” Department of North American Affairs Director-General Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵) told a regular news briefing.
Hsieh was responding to questions on the timing of the major trade talks between Taiwan and the US, which have been held in March or April the past two years.
Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) previously said that it was unlikely that the next round of TIFA talks would be held this month, despite having said in February, during a visit to the US, that the talks would take place this month.
Deng said the delay was because the US has focused its trade negotiation efforts on issues such as finishing negotiations on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade bloc.
There were also suspicions that the delay might be related to Taiwan’s resistance to expanding imports of US beef and pork, but Hsieh did not say yesterday whether they factored into the delay, saying only that the government has had a consistent stance on the issue.
He said Taiwan will continue its ban on imports of cow internal organs from the US, but will move to open its doors to six other kinds of beef parts from the US as long as their safety is ensured.
Taiwan will also maintain its ban on imports of US pork that contains traces of ractopamine, a veterinary leanness-enhancing drug banned in the nation, Hsieh said.
Taiwan also previously prohibited imports of beef containing ractopamine, but it lifted the ban in July 2012, setting the stage for the resumption of TIFA talks in March 2013 after a six-year suspension caused largely by the dispute over beef imports from the US.
The TIFA was signed in 1994 as a framework for Taiwan-US dialogue on trade-related issues. The last round of TIFA talks were held in Washington in April last year.
Asked about a recent report in which US officials suggested that Taiwan address the beef and pork issues if it wanted to speed up the process of joining the TPP, Hsieh said Taiwan understands Washington’s stance.
Both sides will continue to negotiate, he said, adding that bilateral communication under the TIFA is smooth.
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