The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham) yesterday called on Taipei and Washington to resume the long-stalled Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks now that the controversial issue of Taiwan's restrictions on US beef imports has been resolved.
In a statement issued yesterday, AmCham welcomed the announcement that Taipei and Washington had reached agreement on a protocol on the liberalization of imports of US beef products into Taiwan.
“The protocol removes what had been a major irritant in the bilateral economic relationship. AmCham now urges the two governments to quickly schedule the long-delayed next round of TIFA talks, which should take place in Taipei,” AmCham said.
PHOTO: PICHI CHUANG, REUTERS
“TIFA talks have proven in the past to be a highly useful vehicle for the two sides to discuss trade and investment-related issues in detail, moving bilateral economic relations forward to the benefit of both economies,” the statement added.
At a separate setting yesterday, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said TIFA talks are expected to resume by the end of this year now that the issue of beef imports from the US has been resolved.
Shih said he recently reported to Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) about the importance of renewing TIFA talks and said that under the TIFA dialogue framework, Taiwan will seek to talk about e-commerce, product verification and other issues.
Shih's remarks echoed those made by William Stanton, the top US envoy to Taiwan, who said on Thursday that as soon as the beef issue “hurdle” was cleared, TIFA talks aimed at strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations between Taiwan and the US could be resumed.
Taiwan and the US signed the TIFA in 1994 as a stepping stone to a Taiwan-US free trade agreement. Under this framework, meetings were held once or twice a year until July 2007.
Nefeterius Akeli McPherson, senior media affairs liaison of the Office of the US Trade Representative, welcomed Taiwan's decision to lift the ban on US bone-in beef from young cattle.
The latest development is conducive to a resumption of the TIFA talks, McPherson said.
“We look forward to seeing both sides getting the opportunity to communicate, since there are so many trade issues to be settled,” she said.
Meanwhile, a Washington-based Taiwanese official cast doubt on whether the new round of TIFA talks will take place this year, given that the US government is running a tight schedule for the rest of this year, including an annual meeting of the China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, a visit to China by US President Barack Obama and the APEC leadership summit.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS