The Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st-Century Trade negotiations are to involve more than 100 officials from 20 ministries after two months of preparation, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) said yesterday.
Issues to be discussed include expediting trade, establishing regulations, implementing measures to tackle corruption, trade involving small and medium-sized enterprises, agricultural trade, methods for resolving trade obstacles, the development of digital trade, labor issues, environmental issues, matters regarding state-owned corporations and nonmarket-based policies.
The Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations has established a task force for each issue to ensure that professional negotiators and the head or designated leader of respective ministries lead each one, while each has been assigned an individual legal counsel.
Photo: CNA
Deng, who is heading the Taiwanese delegation at the talks, urged the negotiators to be thoroughly familiar with details of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Understanding the details of international trade agreements would be advantageous to Taiwan during the negotiations, Deng said, adding that the Taiwan-US initiative is Taiwan’s most significant trade negotiation of the past two decades involving foreign countries.
The government’s efforts convinced the Office of the US Trade Representative to move forward with the initiative, despite some concerns about Taiwan’s inability to remove restrictions on US pork imports, Deng said.
The initiative is a high-standard negotiation that would help Taiwan broaden its trade relations internationally and roll back its reliance on the Chinese market, the minister said.
However, despite two months of preparation, “there can and will be unforeseen incidents that we must overcome,” he added.
After leaving quarantine in Mexico, where he tested positive for COVID-19, Deng said he would lead the negotiators to the US, where they would meet with US government officials to ensure that negotiations continue as planned.
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