Taiwan Wants FTA With US
Taiwan wants to begin negotiations on a free trade deal with the U.S., Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said Aug. 12, in a speech for think tanks the Hudson Institute and the Center for American Progress. The president said a trade deal with the U.S. is among her priorities during her second term, saying it will help increase Taiwan’s supply chain security.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
“We must be clear-eyed on how we can move forward on an FTA,” Tsai said. U.S.-Taiwan relations have been “for too long ... hindered by technicalities that account for just a small fraction of two-way trade.” She said Taiwan wants “to work together to resolve these issues, in a way that is safe for our consumers and also consistent with established scientific standards.”
A trade deal makes sense due to the increasing cooperation among U.S. and Taiwanese companies, Tsai said, pointing to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s recent decision to build a factory in Arizona (2005150033). She also said Google and Microsoft have “substantially increased” their investments in Taiwan.
“I believe that the people of Taiwan can see the value and wisdom in building closer economic relations with the U.S.,” Tsai said. “And conversely, we hope that the U.S. recognizes the broader strategic implications such an agreement would undoubtedly have.”
A U.S.-Taiwan trade deal would likely raise tensions with China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and has objected to U.S. arms sales to the island. China recently announced sanctions on Lockheed Martin for a $620 million arms sale to Taiwan (see 2007140018). “We once again warn the U.S. that China firmly opposes official exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan under any pretext,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Aug. 12, according to an unofficial translation of his remarks. “People who play [with] fire will burn themselves.”