The Bush administration appears to be using trade policy to punish countries that did not cooperate in the US-led war on Iraq and reward those who did, trade policy analysts said Thursday.
"This is something that I personally am not enthusiastic about," Fred Bergsten, director of the Institute for International Economics, said in a speech to the US Asia Pacific Council, a newly formed foreign affairs group.
"But I think the reality must be recognized around the world, and certainly in the (Asia Pacific) region, that the US government at least for some time is going to differentiate between countries that it has designated as members of coalition of the willing and the other countries who were not as cooperative," Bergsten said.
The administration already has demonstrated this by delaying the signing of a free trade agreement with Chile because that country opposed a second UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force to disarm Iraq, Bergsten said.
In contrast, President George W. Bush will sign a free trade pact with Singapore, which supported the US action, when Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong visits the White House on May 6.
In another example, Australia has jumped to near the front of the list of future US free trade partners because of its strong support for the war, Bergsten said.
In a speech to the same group, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said the Bush administration still hoped for congressional approval of both the Singapore and the Chile agreements this year.
An administration official, speaking on the condition that he not be identified, denied that any desire for retribution was influencing US trade policy.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from