A Taiwanese agricultural trade mission on Wednesday signed three letters of intent with US agricultural industry associations to purchase more than US$10 billion of US farm products over the next four years.
At a signing ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said that Taiwan imported more than US$3.7 billion of US agricultural products last year, including US$1.9 billion of soybeans, corn, wheat and beef.
Taiwan’s biennial agricultural trade goodwill mission has historically pledged about US$1.9 billion in purchases annually, but this year the amount was raised to US$2.5 billion — a 25 percent increase, he added.
Photo: CNA
“Today, we are taking our partnership to the next level. We are proud to sign letters of intent and announce our commitment to purchase more than US$10 billion of soybeans, corn, wheat and beef over the next four years,” Chen said.
“This is a true win-win relationship: Taiwanese consumers enjoy the best of American products, while US farmers and exporters also benefit from a stable market,” he added.
Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) at the same event said that the relationship between Taipei and Washington is not only about feeding Taiwanese daily, but also about security.
“We need to have a strategic supply for rainy days because of what is happening in the Taiwan Strait,” he said. “Buying from a friend makes all the sense in the world — not only food, but also energy and other defense-related equipment.”
Following the ceremony, Chen said the delegation, made up of major Taiwanese food companies and agricultural groups, would split into three teams to visit eight US states.
The soybean and corn group is to tour Arkansas, Ohio and Indiana; the wheat group would travel to South Dakota, Montana and Idaho; and the beef group would head to Florida and Texas.
Each is to meet with local politicians, farmers’ associations and exporters to explore further cooperation.
This year marks the 15th “agricultural trade goodwill mission” since 1998.
The missions are part of Taiwan’s effort to balance trade with the US, as well as ease trade frictions and avert tariff increases on Taiwanese exports, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in March.
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