The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham Taipei) and the Arlington, Virginia-based US-Taiwan Business Council yesterday announced they had formed a coalition to push for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between Taiwan and the US.
“A US-Taiwan BTA would allow the two sides to enhance their trade relationship based on mutual trust and shared values, and take full advantage of the complementarity of their industries,” the coalition said in a statement.
The coalition said that it would bind together all who support a BTA, leveraging and coordinating resources to construct a broad base of support in all regions of Taiwan and the US, and from all sectors of the economy.
Photo: CNA
A stable and economically vibrant Taiwan is in the best interests of the US and its regional allies, it added.
Now is the opportune moment to take tangible steps toward completing a Taiwan-US trade agreement, AmCham Taipei president Leo Seewald said, adding that he hopes the coalition can provide the momentum required to get the process started.
Taiwan-US ties have improved in the past few years and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) last month announced that Taiwan would ease restrictions on imports of US beef and pork, Seewald added.
AmCham Taipei is the most influential international business organization in Taiwan, with about 1,000 members from more than 500 companies in the global business community.
Many members have been in Taiwan for decades and are deeply vested in the economy’s success.
Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said that Tsai’s announcement opens the door to a market liberalization trade agreement.
Taiwan made a commitment to trade liberalization, but for many years the commitment remained unfulfilled, the council said.
“That is now no longer the case... The US business community believes that the removal of this barrier affords both parties a way to move forward on a bilateral trade agreement,” Hammond-Chambers said.
Linking Taiwan trade liberalization to the US-China trade relationship is wrong, he said.
Rather, the US can pursue its commercial interests with China while working to achieve a trade agreement with Taiwan, Hammond-Chambers said.
“To place a hold on progress with Taiwan, a top 10 trading market, over Chinese concerns is self-censorship and contrary to American interests,” he said.
The council is a non-profit organization that is wholly funded by its member companies, which have business interests in Taiwan and vary in size from one-person consulting firms to large multinational corporations.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within