An announcement to officially start negotiations under the newly launched Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st-Century Trade is expected in the next few weeks, Taiwan’s chief trade negotiator, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), said on Friday.
Deng, speaking in an interview with the Central News Agency, said that talks under the trade initiative, which was launched on June 1 to deepen bilateral trade ties between Taiwan and the US, were expected to commence within the next few weeks.
The initiative, which was not formed as a free-trade agreement involving tariff issues, covers a wide range of areas including trade facilitation, sound regulatory practices, agriculture, eliminating corruption, support for small and medium-sized enterprises in trade, digital trade enhancement, environmental protection, standards and nonmarket policies.
Photo: CNA
The countries held their first meeting under the Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st-Century Trade physically in Washington and virtually on June 27.
Deng said that after the inaugural meeting, the US on July 8 concluded a public consultation on the initiative.
Companies, business groups and non-governmental organizations that provided feedback to the US government have all supported the initiative, Deng said, citing information he had on hand, adding that it seemed everything was going well.
Unlike previous Taiwan trade deals involving opening markets, the new initiative would mainly focus on the establishment of trade rules, Deng said.
Taiwan’s negotiating team is preparing for talks under the new initiative by referencing the recent agreements between the US and other countries, such as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which went into effect on July 1, 2020, solidifying commitments to fair and science-based trade rules to govern commerce in North America until at least 2036.
Asked about how talks would progress once started, Deng said it was difficult to provide a deadline, but Taipei hopes there will be concrete results before the US hosts APEC leaders next year.
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