Taiwanese officials in the US are optimistic that a recently concluded trade policy agreement between the Bush administration and the Democratic-led Congress will give Taiwan an important advantage over other countries if and when the US begins to consider a new round of free trade agreement (FTA) partners.
The heads of Taiwan's 11 Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices (TECRO) throughout the US convened in Washington on Tuesday to compare notes with Taiwan's leading Washington representatives on strategy to take the best advantage of the new trade agreement and to exchange notes on what each of the participants are doing to advance the nation's trade interests.
The administration of US President George W. Bush has so far refused to consider an FTA with Taiwan, a major priority in bilateral relations of the government of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). With a key US law that has facilitated a spate of recent FTAs with other countries about to expire at the end of next month, the Bush administration has suspended all FTA moves until the fate of the law is decided.
The Republican administration wants to extend the law -- the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), or Fast Track -- but the Democrats have generally been against a renewal. Last week, however, after months of bickering, the two sides reached an agreement with the Republicans conceding that labor, environmental and other protections that the Democrats have long sought be included.
That should be very good for Taiwan, which meets or exceeds global labor and environmental standards, while several countries with which Washington has inked FTAs do not, Taiwanese officials contend.
"We in Taiwan are very confident that as far as labor and environmental conditions are concerned, Taiwan should not have problems incorporating the requirements into a future trade deal," Francis K. H. Liang (
"We want to be sure that we are prepared and have convinced the US government that when they are considering the next round of FTA partners -- when they receive trade authorization through the TPA, or in any other form -- Taiwan would be on the priority list," Liang said.
In the Tuesday TECRO conference, which was chaired in part by Taiwan's de-facto ambassador to the US Joseph Wu (
The regional heads, in turn, were briefed by TECRO officers on new developments in US trade policy, including the so-called "new trade policy" announced by Congress and the administration, as well as the political debate on the extension of the TPA and details of a newly introduced concurrent resolution in the House of Representatives on bilateral FTAs, the news release said.
The Bush-Congress trade agreement includes for the first time legally enforceable labor conditions embodied in the declaration of the principles of the International Labor Office and seven international conventions on the environment and related issues, Liang said. Those provisions would guarantee workers the right to organize, ban child labor and prohibit forced labor.
However, Taiwanese officials conceded that labor and environmental issues were only a small part of the entire FTA equation. China's opposition to a US-Taiwan FTA and continuing trade tensions between Taipei and Washington, including on intellectual property issues, must be overcome before Taiwan can hope for any FTA with Washington.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS