Issues in seven areas remain on the agenda for negotiations on the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade after the two sides signed an initial agreement on Thursday, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) said.
Deng, Taiwan’s main trade negotiator, said in Washington that talks on labor, environmental and agricultural issues, digital trade, non-market policies and practices, state-owned enterprises and standards remained to be discussed.
During his closed-door talks with US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai (戴琪) at the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Detroit, Michigan, last month, it was agreed to begin the next round of negotiations as soon as possible, Deng said.
Photo courtesy of the Office of Trade Negotiations
However, because negotiating all seven topics at the same time could slow down the proceedings, Taiwan is likely to suggest that the two sides focus on environmental, labor and agricultural issues during the next round of negotiations, he said, adding that it was only a preliminary plan and the Office of Trade Negotiations would have to discuss this issue with the USTR.
While acknowledging that forthcoming negotiations would “not be easy,” Deng said the goals of the two sides were aligned.
Taiwan has a well-developed system for protecting workers and labor is an issue to which the US attaches a high level of importance, he said.
In the negotiating mandate for the talks established in August last year, the focus of labor negotiations was to adopt provisions that include protecting internationally recognized labor rights and holding the business community accountable for ensuring those rights, he said.
Talks on the environment should be relatively easy, as environmental protection is a shared goal of the two nations, Deng said.
The mandate envisions provisions that promote green businesses and decarbonization, strengthen environmental protections, including resource conservation, and establish information sharing mechanisms, he said.
The two nations are looking to increase their exports of agricultural products to each other and food safety is also an issue expected to be covered, he added.
In this area, the mandate calls for provisions that facilitate trade “through science and risk-based decisionmaking, and the adoption of sound, transparent regulatory practices” that support cooperation on food safety, Deng said.
As to whether the two sides could conclude the negotiations by the end of the year as the Office of Trade Negotiations hopes, Deng said it would depend on developments related to items on the two sides’ agendas.
In related news, the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Wednesday evening announced that it would create a consultative body for Taiwanese and US small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as was agreed in the initial agreement under the trade initiative.
The ministry said the entity would focus on providing Taiwanese and US SMEs with consultative services to offer them advice on development strategies and the challenges they would face when doing business, a statement said.
The service is to be staffed with experts on Taiwan’s trade with the US, as well as representatives from public foundations familiar with US affairs and SMEs that have proven results in their collaborations with the US, it said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS