The new Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st Century Trade has significant strategic implications, as it shows that Taiwan is a priority trading partner of the US and vice versa, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
The initiative, announced on Wednesday, is to provide a mechanism for economic and trade talks between the two nations in 11 areas, excluding tariffs.
It largely parallels the US’ Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which excluded Taiwan when it launched last week.
Photo: screen grab from Office of the US Trade Representative Twitter account
The first round of negotiations is to be held later this month in Washington, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) told reporters on Wednesday following a virtual meeting with Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi.
The initiative is “an important advancement in the economic relationship between Taiwan and the US,” Su told a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
It represents a new model of Taiwan-US engagement that not only provides a road map for signing a bilateral trade pact, but would also help the two nations develop a more comprehensive, substantive, cutting-edge and sustainable economic partnership, he added.
It would also be of great benefit to Taiwan’s efforts to join regional trade mechanisms such as the IPEF and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as well as reaffirm the strategic significance of Taiwan and the US as each other’s priority trading partners, Su said.
Taiwan is an indispensable link in global supply chains, he said, adding that Washington realizes the need to bolster its economic ties with Taiwan to make global trade more resilient and secure.
Taiwan is also at the forefront of democracies’ fight against authoritarianism, with the Russia-Ukraine war making its strategic position even clearer, he added.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk yesterday said that the institute is ready to support the advancement of the exciting initiative, which aims to develop concrete ways to deepen the US-Taiwan economic relationship.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday evening, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrote she was hopeful that the new bilateral trade initiative between Taiwan and the US would eventually lead to a trade agreement.
Separately yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) said the party was happy to see a breakthrough in Taiwan-US trade, but added that it is still only the beginning.
The framework still excludes the potential of a free-trade agreement, and does not guarantee that Taiwan would gain access to the CPTPP, he said.
KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) wrote on Facebook that after Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks with the US resumed last year, Taiwan had many times expressed its desire for a free-trade agreement and to join the IPEF, but neither has come to pass.
Negotiations on the new initiative have not even started and the content is still unknown, he said.
“The question is, what significant progress is being made? What are these significant results?” he wrote, accusing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of using the agreement to score political points.
DPP spokeswoman Lee Yen-hui (李妍慧) hit back at the KMT, accusing it of discrediting the initiative because it does not want to see Taiwan-US ties improve.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan, Jason Pan and CNA
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
MUSICAL INTERLUDE: During the altercations, KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin at one point pulled out a flute and started to play the national anthem A massive brawl erupted between governing and opposition lawmakers in the main chamber of the legislature in Taipei yesterday over legislative reforms. President-elect William Lai (賴清德) is to be inaugurated on Monday, but his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in the legislature and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been working with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to promote their mutual ideas. The opposition parties said the legislative reforms would enable better oversight of the Executive Yuan, including a proposal to criminalize officials who are deemed to make false statements in the legislature. “The DPP does not want this to be
Singapore yesterday swore in Lawrence Wong (黃循財) as the city-state’s new prime minister in a ceremony broadcast live on television after Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) stepped down following two decades in office. Wong, formerly deputy prime minister, was inaugurated at the Istana government office shortly after 8pm to become the second person outside the Lee family to lead the nation. “I ... do solemnly swear that I will at all times faithfully discharge my duties as prime minister according to law, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. So help me God,” the
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,