The new Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st Century Trade has significant strategic implications, as it shows that Taiwan is a priority trading partner of the US and vice versa, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
The initiative, announced on Wednesday, is to provide a mechanism for economic and trade talks between the two nations in 11 areas, excluding tariffs.
It largely parallels the US’ Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which excluded Taiwan when it launched last week.
Photo: screen grab from Office of the US Trade Representative Twitter account
The first round of negotiations is to be held later this month in Washington, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) told reporters on Wednesday following a virtual meeting with Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi.
The initiative is “an important advancement in the economic relationship between Taiwan and the US,” Su told a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
It represents a new model of Taiwan-US engagement that not only provides a road map for signing a bilateral trade pact, but would also help the two nations develop a more comprehensive, substantive, cutting-edge and sustainable economic partnership, he added.
It would also be of great benefit to Taiwan’s efforts to join regional trade mechanisms such as the IPEF and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as well as reaffirm the strategic significance of Taiwan and the US as each other’s priority trading partners, Su said.
Taiwan is an indispensable link in global supply chains, he said, adding that Washington realizes the need to bolster its economic ties with Taiwan to make global trade more resilient and secure.
Taiwan is also at the forefront of democracies’ fight against authoritarianism, with the Russia-Ukraine war making its strategic position even clearer, he added.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk yesterday said that the institute is ready to support the advancement of the exciting initiative, which aims to develop concrete ways to deepen the US-Taiwan economic relationship.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday evening, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrote she was hopeful that the new bilateral trade initiative between Taiwan and the US would eventually lead to a trade agreement.
Separately yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) said the party was happy to see a breakthrough in Taiwan-US trade, but added that it is still only the beginning.
The framework still excludes the potential of a free-trade agreement, and does not guarantee that Taiwan would gain access to the CPTPP, he said.
KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) wrote on Facebook that after Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks with the US resumed last year, Taiwan had many times expressed its desire for a free-trade agreement and to join the IPEF, but neither has come to pass.
Negotiations on the new initiative have not even started and the content is still unknown, he said.
“The question is, what significant progress is being made? What are these significant results?” he wrote, accusing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of using the agreement to score political points.
DPP spokeswoman Lee Yen-hui (李妍慧) hit back at the KMT, accusing it of discrediting the initiative because it does not want to see Taiwan-US ties improve.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan, Jason Pan and CNA
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS