Taiwan hopes that talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the US will resume this year, an official at the Office of Trade Negotiations told lawmakers yesterday.
Since Washington had not filled its deputy trade representative posts after US President Donald Trump assumed office in January last year, TIFA talks were not held last year, senior trade negotiator Hsiao Chen-jung (蕭振榮) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
However, after the US Congress approved Jeffrey Gerrish’s nomination as deputy US trade representative for Asia, Europe, the Middle East and industrial competitiveness in March, Taipei has been discussing with Washington the possibility of resuming TIFA talks this year, Hsiao said.
Taiwan and the US signed the bilateral trade accord in 1994 and have held 10 rounds of talks. TIFA has become the major negotiating channel for high-ranking trade officials on both sides, led by officials at the deputy minister level.
Asked about the agenda for the next round of talks, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said that Taiwan would like to raise issues relating to investment and trade.
Kung said Taiwan hopes to sign a bilateral investment agreement that would protect investors on both sides at a time when bilateral economic exchanges are on the rise, but friction in transactions is also increasing.
An investment agreement should prevent bilateral business ties from deteriorating, he said.
The first TIFA meeting was held in 1995 and continued in 1997, 1998, 2004, 2006 and 2007, taking place in Taipei and Washington on a rotating basis, until a five-year gap occurred from 2008 to 2012 due to disputes over imports of US beef containing the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine.
The US regards the ban as a trade barrier and has implied on numerous occasions that a resumption of bilateral talks under TIFA rest on the resolution of the beef issue.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Maria Liu (劉德立) also told the meeting that the nation is continuing its efforts to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and is seeking the support of existing members for its bid.
The government is also communicating with the local business sector — which fears that membership in the trade body might hurt some domestic industries — reviewing the legal differences among CPTPP members and assessing the possible impact on the local economy, he said.
Eleven countries — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam — signed the trade agreement early last month.
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