Asia-watchers in Washington are keeping close tabs on Taiwan's participation in the WTO, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham) said in a statement yesterday.
"The quality of Taiwan's performance in Geneva and its substantive delivery on WTO pre-accession accords in Taiwan are very much on the radar screen here in Washington," Richard Henson, president AmCham said in the statement.
"Over the last two days, in a dozen meetings with US government officials and think tank scholars, we have found great support for Taiwan's increased international profile as an active member of WTO."Henson made the comments following a two-hour meeting at the US Department of Commerce.
Henson met for several hours yesterday with
William Lash, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance, and Chi Ling-tong, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia and Pacific.
The two officials were in Taiwan earlier this year when AmCham updated them on its views concerning a number of WTO-related issues.
Henson is leading AmCham's annual "doorknock" delegation to Washington, where chamber members meet with members of Congress, government agencies, administration officials and scholars who focus on US policy issues toward China and Taiwan.
"We've already had very useful meetings with senior officials at the US Department of Commerce and the Department of State, where we were able to focus on several priority issues presented in our White Paper," Henson said.
"At the Department of Commerce several of our delegation members explained how the onerous terms and conditions for contracts in Taiwan discourage foreign firms from bidding on transportation, power, energy and environmental projects. This means that not only are US companies being essentially closed out of the market, Taiwan's people end up paying more money for lower-quality results."
Slow implementation of Taiwan's WTO accession agreements -- especially in pharmaceuticals, agriculture and banking -- were also an area of "growing frustration" Henson said.
"We were also told that the Bush administration's increased attention to Taiwan has its rewards and its responsibilities," Henson said. "We have seen much higher-level contact over the last two years between US and Taiwan government officials, but these contacts are supposed to be more than get-acquainted sessions. We have been told that, despite the great attention given to security and political issues in Washington, the growth and strengthening of the US-Taiwan economic relationship is also very much on the agenda -- and Taiwan shouldn't take it for granted. This message was delivered with direct reference to WTO-compliance issues."
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