The issue of US pork and beef imports has once again become controversial. However, it is also an opportune moment for Taiwan to stop prioritizing political judgements over scientific risk assessments for every food safety issue.
The US pork and beef issue is a long-standing obstacle to improving Taiwan-US trade relations. As well as not abiding by international standards, Taiwan has repeatedly failed to keep its promises.
Regarding US beef, the World Organization for Animal Health classified the US as a controlled zone for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease, in 2007, and as a negligible risk zone in 2013.
Australia, Japan and other countries are also negligible risk zones, but Taiwan only applies age limits for cattle to US beef, so the US accuses Taiwan of disregarding international standards and imposing discriminatory conditions.
The experiences of South Korea and Japan can be used as reference points for Taiwan’s situation. South Korea suspended imports of US beef in 2003, but in 2006 signed a protocol with the US to allow imports of beef from US cattle under the age of 30 months. This concession cleared the way for launching US-South Korean free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations the same year.
However, after the FTA was signed, the US carried on asking South Korea to allow imports of US beef from cattle of any age.
Many South Koreans felt that the government was sacrificing food safety for the sake of an FTA. South Korea’s way of calming the controversy was to encourage traders from both countries to reach a transitional plan under which South Korea would not allow imports of beef from cattle over the age of 30 months until consumer confidence was restored.
The US government cooperated by guaranteeing the quality of US beef sold to South Korea by approving beef only from farms certified under the US Department of Agriculture’s Quality System Assessment Program, and by agreeing to incorporate the above-mentioned private commercial plan as an annex to the official protocol.
South Korea still does not permit imports of beef from cattle of any age, but the US has not made a fuss about it because South Korea promised in the FTA to gradually reduce its 40 percent tariff on US beef to zero by 2026.
Japan had similar restrictions on US beef, but at the beginning of last year it started allowing imports of beef from cattle of any age from the US, Canada and Ireland, which are all negligible risk zones. This measure abides by international standards and eliminates trade discrimination.
Subsequently, in April last year, Japan commenced negotiations for an FTA with the US that partially went into effect in January.
The Japanese and South Korean experiences show that tackling the US beef issue is a precondition for bilateral trade negotiations. Japan and South Korea carried out their international obligations, despite facing pressure from domestic sectors.
Taiwan could take an equally creative approach by talking to the US about rebuilding consumer confidence and gradually removing restrictions, and about strengthening quality control measures regarding US pork and beef, such as improving traceability. It could also ask to delay tariff cuts, so as to retain some flexibility with regard to food safety.
Such measures could be Taiwan’s best option, because they would take care of its international obligations while also responding to public worries.
Yen Huai-shing is deputy director of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research’s Economic Law Research Center.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) on Tuesday returned from her visit to the US, where she had met with several US senators and representatives, think tanks, and overseas Taiwanese and Chinese communities, espousing her vision of promoting cross-strait dialogue as a way to evade war. On Monday last week, she sat down with US academic Orville Schell and Asia Society Policy Institute distinguished fellow Daniel Russel. Russel is a seasoned diplomat who has served in positions related to East Asian and Indo-Pacific affairs. At the conclusion of the discussion, Russel employed his considerable diplomatic experience and knowledge
I arrived in Taiwan when I was 18, fresh out of high school and trying to navigate university life. Everything felt unfamiliar. My broken Mandarin quickly revealed what I already knew: I was not from here. When I told people I was from Indonesia, many told me that I did not look Indonesian. This caught me off guard, not because it was cruel, but because of how casually it was said. Sometimes it came with curiosity, sometimes surprise, occasionally admiration for my “fair skin.” More often than not, the people asking meant no harm. It is understandable. I look ethnically
Nearly three decades after the 1997 handover, Hong Kong has become a paradox: a place where financial dynamism coexists with political repression — a reality Taiwan cannot afford to ignore. Despite a sharp contraction of civic freedoms since 2020, Hong Kong remains a major global financial center. It has recently overtaken Switzerland as the world’s largest offshore wealth hub, supported by steady inflows of capital from China and across Asia. The territory continues to serve as a key intermediary linking Chinese firms, multinational investors and global markets. Institutional continuity has played a role. The Hong Kong dollar’s peg to the
In the aftermath of China’s expulsion of the New York Times correspondent Vivian Wang (王月眉), Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) has publicly and explicitly articulated Beijing’s core thinking on the Taiwan issue. Chinese authorities accused the newspaper of promoting what they called “Taiwan independence fallacies,” and said that its description of Taiwan as a country amounts to a challenge to the “one China” principle. The significance of the incident goes beyond the reporting dispute and has given the international community a window into the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) attitude toward Taiwan. Lin, in a statement, said
RSS