(Finance) – Taiwan and the USA They have reached “consensus on the negotiating mandate” on 11 areas – including climate, agriculture and digital commerce – with the aim of working on the definition of an agreement as part of the ‘US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade “announced last June, a few days after the Economic initiative for the Indo-Pacific which excluded Taipei.
The agreement, if reached, will not be a free trade agreement on which the island instead aimed. Negotiations will deepen bilateral trade and investment relations, they will promote mutual business priorities based on shared values, as well as innovation and inclusive economic growth for workers and businesses in Taiwan and the US, a note from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (Ustr) reported.
Matured amid the growing tensions of China’s unprecedented military maneuvers around the island in response to the speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit earlier this month to Taiwan, the announcement is intended to fuel tensions between Washington and Beijing that more insistently criticizes the American side for violating the ‘One China’ principle / policy at the basis of bilateral relations. On the other hand, the initiative does not fully meet Taiwan’s hopes for a bilateral free trade agreement, although the talks are seen as important in keeping communications open and hoping to be able to negotiate such an agreement in the future.
Taiwan is the ninth largest trading partner of the United States, according to data from the Trade Representative Office United States for 2020 and is one of the world’s largest suppliers of semiconductors and other hi-tech components.
(Photo: SalRangThaeu)