Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) on Monday held a virtual meeting with US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai (戴琪) to discuss bilateral trade issues.
During the videoconference, Deng, who serves as the Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, expressed the hope that Taiwan and the US would begin talks on a bilateral trade agreement, an official in the Cabinet’s Office of Trade Negotiations told the Central News Agency yesterday on condition of anonymity.
The official declined to comment on whether the bilateral discussions touched on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), an initiative proposed last year by the US government with the aim of enhancing its economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.
Photo: Taipei Times / AFP
Nor was it mentioned in a readout provided by the USTR.
In Monday’s meeting, the two sides reviewed progress made on bilateral trade issues since a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) council meeting in June last year, and agreed to remain in contact on those and other issues in the coming months, the readout said.
“They also discussed their mutual interest in working together on issues of common concern, including regionally and in multilateral organizations like the World Trade Organization,” the readout added.
The IPEF has yet to be clearly defined, but according to a US Congressional Research Service report, US officials do not envision it taking the form of a traditional trade agreement.
Instead, it is to include different modules covering “fair and resilient trade, supply chain resilience, infrastructure and decarbonization, and tax and anticorruption,” the report said.
Taipei has expressed an interest in participating in the IPEF initiative.
However, at a US Senate hearing at the end of last month, Tai was unwilling to comment on whether Taiwan would be invited to join the planned IPEF, saying only that the matter had yet to be decided.
Deng and Tai held their first bilateral meeting in June last year, shortly before the TIFA council meeting, which included high-level trade and investment talks between the two countries.
During the TIFA council meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral trade issues such as supply chains, intellectual property and agriculture, while exploring opportunities to work together on tackling the climate change crisis, the USTR added.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS