The first agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade officially came into effect yesterday, marking a “significant milestone” in bilateral trade relations, the Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday.
The agreement between Taiwan and the US covers commitments to customs administration and trade facilitation, regulatory practices, rules for running domestic service industries, anti-corruption, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Both sides will continue to discuss implementation details and share any concerns, the office said in a statement.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, Bloomberg
This includes the establishment of committees on issues such as trade facilitation and good regulatory practices, as well as a liaison mechanism for small and medium-sized enterprises to ensure communication and coordination.
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) also issued a statement on Monday confirming that the initial agreement had come into force.
“We thank our Taiwan partners for helping us reach this important milestone. The entry into force of the first agreement under our 21st Century Trade Initiative represents an important step forward in strengthening the US-Taiwan economic and trade relationship,” US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) said in the statement.
The USTR previously submitted a certification to the US Congress stating that Taiwan had taken the measures necessary to comply with its obligations under the agreement, the statement said.
Both sides had notified each other that all procedures required for the agreement to enter into force had been completed, it said.
The US and Taiwan have been making progress on a second agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, it said.
That agreement would address areas including labor, the environment and agriculture, and negotiations are ongoing, it said.
Taiwan’s trade office said the agreement had received unanimous support from Taiwan and the US Congress.
The two political parties in the US reviewed and approved it without objection in July, giving the agreement the status of an administrative agreement in the US Congress. That status made the legal basis for economic and trade exchanges between Taiwan and the US more solid, the trade office said.
To ensure that both nations can implement the agreement, the US Congress also approved the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act in July last year following the passage of the first agreement, it said.
Taiwan and the US launched the Initiative on 21st Century Trade on June 1, 2022.
The first agreement under the initiative is an important “building block” toward a future free-trade agreement, the Office of Trade Negotiations said in May last year, calling it the “most comprehensive” deal agreed between the two trading partners since 1979.
Speaking to the media yesterday before attending a forum with business leaders, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) described it as a “significant day” for Taiwan-US relations.
He said it reflects both sides’ commitment to strengthening cooperation while deepening a broad range of ties.
The Tourism Administration yesterday announced that it would reward repeat international visitors with incentives of up to NT$8,000 to boost inbound tourism. The incentives are available to all international tourists, it said, adding that repeat visitors would be rewarded with NT$5,000 and would receive an additional NT$3,000 if they bring travel companions. The nation received 2,990,657 inbound visitors during the first quarter, marking a 3.8 percent increase from the same period last year, agency data showed. Japanese nationals are among groups visiting Taiwan the most. About 1.48 million Japanese tourists arrived last year, a year-on-year increase of more than 12
66 FIGHTER JETS: The aircraft is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan — a significant step forward in the nation’s modernization program, a lawmaker said The first of Taiwan’s order of F-16V Block 70 aircraft has been sighted in Texas ahead of delivery, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. Taiwan’s first F-16V Block 70 two-seat aircraft, tail number 6831, was seen flying from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina, to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas, Wang wrote on Facebook yesterday. The plane is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan, marking a significant step forward in the Republic of China Air Force’s modernization program, Wang said, citing military analysts. The F-16V Block 70 is a new-build version
Taiwanese aviator Roger Lin (林睿哲) returned to Taiwan on Saturday after completing a nine-day round-the-world journey in a single-engine aircraft, becoming the first Taiwanese pilot to achieve the feat. Lin departed on June 5 from Los Angeles, California, and continued through Alaska, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Jordan, Norway, Iceland and Canada before landing at the Taipei International Airport (Songshan) via Los Angeles and Japan. Lin shared numerous photos and videos of his journey on a Facebook page titled “Pilot Roger’s Around the World Flight,” including a video showing his aircraft flying over the Danjiang Bridge and
NOT JUST NUMBERS: What matters to intelligence work is crucial, reliable information, so even a few credible leads can be highly valuable to national security, a legislator said The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said it has finished the establishment of an information-reporting channel for Chinese nationals, the aim of which is to broaden intelligence gathering on China’s political, military, economic and social developments. Chinese nationals can submit information on the Web page, https://report.nsb.gov.tw, the NSB said in a statement. The move aims to expand the bureau’s diverse intelligence sources and is pursuant to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), it said, adding that it referenced practices adopted by intelligence agencies in the US, the UK and Israel. An increasing number of people are approaching Taiwanese agencies to provide information, as
RSS