The US Trade Representative Office (USTR) said on Friday that Taiwan has destroyed its bilateral agreement with the US on beef imports and there is no basis for renegotiation on the issue.
With some US lawmakers urging the USTR to take a tough stance and suspend talks on the Taiwan-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), the USTR said its aim was to ask Taiwan to do whatever it can to implement the bilateral agreement and that the USTR would consider all alternatives that could help achieve that target.
Four US representatives said in a letter to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk on Wednesday that they do not think the US should resume trade and investment talks with Taiwan until Taiwan reverses its ban on US ground beef and beef offal.
Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said on Friday that the trade friction between the US and Taiwan on the beef issue was “temporary” and that such disputes are common internationally. Wu said he hoped the US government would understand Taiwan’s position..
However, in response to questions from the media, the USTR reiterated that Taiwan must follow the US-Taiwan beef protocol and open its market to US beef products as agreed.
Taipei concluded a deal with Washington in October last year to lift a ban on imports of US bone-in beef, ground beef and beef offal. The legislature voted earlier this month to revise the law to force the government to reinstate its ban on imports of US ground beef and beef offal.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from