The Ministry of Agriculture on Friday said that it made purchase commitment for more than US$10 billion of US agricultural products based on domestic demand from industries.
The ministry made the remarks in rebuttal to news reports calling the purchase commitment a “bargaining chip” for zero-duty rates in negotiations with the US government.
An agricultural trade mission led by Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) on Wednesday signed letters of intent in Washington with a US agricultural industry association to purchase more than US$10 billion of US produce over the next four years.
Photo: AP
The amount marked a 25 percent increase compared with previous years.
Ministry Secretary-General Lin Chia-jung (林家榮) said the agricultural trade mission to the US set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was launched in 1998.
It visits the US at least every two years and usually in September, he said, adding this was the mission’s 15th visit to the US.
“All purchase amounts were proposed by representatives from industries based on their demand and governmental funding was not involved in the purchases,” Lin said.
The four farm products chosen for purchases — soybeans, wheat, feed corn and beef — have massive domestic demand and rely heavily on imports, he said.
Such imported products can meet the demand from the livestock industry and would benefit consumers, he added.
Data from the ministry showed that soybean imports accounted for 99.8 percent of domestic consumption last year.
The proportions of the feed corn, wheat and beef over the same period were 97.5 percent, 106.6 percent and 95.4 percent respectively, it showed.
Chen led the mission this year to deepen exchanges and cooperation between industry players of Taiwan and the US, Lin said.
US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Friday in a post on X said that she welcomed Taiwan’s investment in US agricultural products.
“That’s a game-changer for our farmers and ranchers,” she said.
In related developments, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday signed two letters of intent with the Taiwan Feed Industry Association and the Taiwan Vegetable Oil Manufacturers Association.
The former pledged to buy 7.5 million tonnes of corn and 1 million tonnes of corn products at an estimated total value of US$2.12 billion from Arkansas and the broader US, while the latter intended to purchase at least 6.5 tonnes of soybeans worth of US$3.44 billion.
“Today’s letter of intent signing for corn and soybeans signals the strong relationship that we have with Taiwan, which is currently the fifth-largest agricultural trading partner for Arkansas and the eighth-largest agricultural trading partner for the US,” Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward said.
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