Taiwan will not address the issue of US pork imports during the upcoming Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks between Taipei and Washington, Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) said on Thursday.
If the US brings the issue up during Thursday’s meeting, Taiwan will reiterate that it does not wish to discuss the matter at this time, Deng said.
He said earlier this month that Taipei and Washington have continued to communicate with each other on the issue, albeit on a small scale.
It is understood that the US side wants to place the issue of access of its agricultural products to Taiwan as a top priority on the agenda, while Taiwan wants to discuss issues related to its bid to join the US-proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the inking of a bilateral investment agreement between the two sides.
Taiwan’s barring of US beef containing ractopamine residue stalled the TIFA talks for many months, but after it lifted its ban in July 2012, the talks resumed in March 2013.
The last TIFA talks were held in Washington in April last year.
This year’s session, originally scheduled for April, was delayed because the US was focusing its trade negotiation efforts on issues such as finalizing negotiations on the TPP.
The meeting is to be held in Taipei.
The TIFA was signed in 1994 as a framework for Taiwan-US dialogue on trade-related issues.
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