Taiwan has agreed to buy US$10 billion of US agricultural products over the next four years in exchange for exporting the nation’s pineapples, the Presidential Office said amid tariff negotiations with Washington.
President William Lai (賴清德) unveiled the deal at a meeting with an agricultural delegation headed by US Undersecretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg, the office said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
The deal to import US-produced soybeans, corn, wheat and beef would improve the productivity of Taiwanese agriculture by improving the quality of its animal feed, as well as improving the nation’s food security, the office said, citing Lai.
Photo: CNA
A Taiwanese agricultural delegation has visited several breadbasket states in the US, including South Dakota, Lindberg’s home state, Lai said, adding that the exchange of delegations signaled Taiwan’s commitment to the bilateral economic partnership.
Taiwan is the seventh-biggest trade partner of the US and the seventh most important buyer of its agricultural exports, he said.
As a reliable and trustworthy friend of the US in the semiconductor industry, Taiwan wishes to enhance bilateral collaboration toward introducing innovative technology in its agricultural sector and food supply resilience, Lai said.
Taiwan’s strategic position in the first island chain and its ability to contribute to decoupling global supply chains from China underscores the importance of cooperation among like-minded nations to world peace and prosperity, he said.
The visit of Lindberg’s delegation — which showcases the depth of collaboration between the private and public sectors in Taiwan and the US — symbolizes the strength of the two nations’ strategic economic partnership, Lai said.
Lindberg expressed his gratitude to Taiwanese consumers for buying up to 25 percent of their foodstuff from US farmers, the statement said.
As a friend of Taiwan, the US is committed to bolstering the nation’s resilience by contributing to its supply of food and energy, Lindberg said.
Separately, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday said that officials expect the US to approve imports of Taiwanese pineapples before the next harvest, which starts in March next year.
Most of the technical and legal hurdles involved in obtaining approval for sale of the fruit in the US have been overcome since the government began preparing for the move in September last year, Chen said.
Taiwan initiated the process to export pineapples to the US shortly after 2021, when China banned their sale, he said, adding that members of the US delegation who visited Taiwanese orchards were satisfied with their sanitation standards.
Taiwanese pineapples compare favorably in sweetness and juiciness to their Central and Southern American counterparts that hold sway in the US market, he said.
Most Taiwanese pineapple cultivars certified to be pest-free would be exempt from chemical and non-chemical treatment typically required of fruit imported by the US, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said, citing comments by US officials.
Details of the quarantine procedures for Taiwanese pineapples are still being determined, the bureau added.
Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
RSS