The nation has a chance of joining the second round of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2020 at the earliest, but political uncertainties in each CPTPP member nation remain a potential hurdle, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
“The political challenge is more difficult than getting Taiwan’s economic and trade environment ready when it comes to negotiating with each CPTPP member,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee.
During the APEC leaders’ summit in Vietnam earlier this month, trade ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific nations announced that they would push head with a regional free-trade deal following the US’ withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and rename the trade initiative the CPTPP.
The new pact can take effect 60 days after any six of the 11 nations complete domestic ratifications and the ministry estimates that could be before the end of next year, Wang said.
The chances of Taiwan becoming the 12th member of the CPTPP is slim, as the new regional trade agreement was initiated by 11 existing members of the TPP.
Taiwan could work on gaining the approval of each of the 11 nations after the CPTPP takes effect, which is estimated to be 2020 at the earliest, more than one year after the agreement takes effect, Wang said.
The most challenging part would be receiving the approval of the 11 nations because they would each propose their own terms for Taiwan to meet, she said.
For instance, Wang said it would be inevitable in negotiations with Japan that Taiwan would have to consider lifting the ban on food products from five Japanese prefectures due to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster in March 2011.
It is also possible that Taiwan might face political interference from China when it is in bilateral talks with the 11 nations, she said.
Meanwhile, Wang said that the suspension of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement negotiations between Taiwan and the US this year was because of the US has not yet approved the nominees for deputy trade representative posts.
“The relationship between Taiwan and the US remains unchanged. The talks are simply being delayed by the personnel reshuffle in Washington,” Wang said in response to lawmakers’ concerns.
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