Taiwan and the US are planning to announce negotiations to deepen economic ties, people familiar with the matter said, as Beijing cautioned Washington against getting too close to Taipei.
The talks would focus on enhancing economic cooperation and supply-chain resiliency, falling short of a traditional free-trade agreement, the people said.
The deal is likely to include areas of trade facilitation, supply-chain work and trade in agricultural products, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a public announcement.
Photo: Bloomberg
Those elements are similar to the pillars in the 13-member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) that US President Joe Biden announced on Monday during his visit to Tokyo.
While a bipartisan group of lawmakers wanted Taiwan in that group, it was excluded because some nations that agreed to join refused to have Taipei included over fear of retribution from Beijing, people familiar with the process said.
The talks are an effort to elevate the US-Taiwan economic relationship, the people said, and would go beyond existing discussions under a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement between the two governments.
A US Trade Representative spokesman declined to comment on the plans for talks on deepening bilateral economic engagement.
A spokesperson for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US did not respond to a request for comment.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) told Bloomberg TV this week that she and her Taiwanese counterpart, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), had “very positive conversations” when they met in Bangkok last Saturday.
“We are committed to deepening and enhancing the bilateral trade and economic relationship, and we instructed our teams to work over the course of the next couple of weeks on that deepening and enhancement,” Tai said.
The two agreed to meet again in the coming weeks to discuss the path forward, the US Trade Representative said in a readout.
A large Taiwanese government and business delegation is expected to attend the SelectUSA Investment Summit outside Washington next month, giving both sides another chance to meet face-to-face.
US officials have said that the reliance on Taiwan for semiconductors in particular is a geopolitical strategic problem and have pushed for a subsidy program that incentivizes domestic manufacturing of chips. That initiative is part of broader legislation that could pass later this year.
Taiwan for years has been pushing the US to negotiate a trade agreement, but US officials have said that roadblocks in Taiwan’s economic practices, including on agriculture, would need to be resolved as a prerequisite for any negotiations to take place.
The administration of former US president Donald Trump, in particular, was hesitant to engage with Taiwan economically while it was negotiating its phase one trade deal with Beijing, people familiar with the deliberations said at the time.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite