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.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS