Business Groups Call For Resumption Of US-Taiwan Trade Talks

by Mary Swire,Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

30 October 2009

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham) and the US-Taiwan Business Council have both urged Taiwan and the US to arrange an early resumption of talks on a trade and investment framework agreement (TIFA), now that the long-stalled issue of Taiwan market access for US beef imports has been resolved.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei welcomed the announcement that Taiwan and the US have reached agreement on a protocol on the liberalization of imports of US beef products into this market.

It said that the protocol removes what had been a major irritant in the bilateral economic relationship. AmCham has now requested that the two governments arrange the much-anticipated next round of TIFA talks in a timely fashion. It added that TIFA talks have proven in the past to be a highly useful vehicle for the two sides to discuss trade and investment-related issues in detail, moving bilateral economic relations forward to the benefit of both economies.

The US-Taiwan Business Council also welcomed the resolution of the issue of Taiwan market access for US beef. That issue, it said, had long been front and centre in the US-Taiwan trade relationship, and lay at the heart of the decision to freeze the long-standing TIFA talks several years ago - bringing almost all significant US-Taiwan economic dialogue to a halt.

Now that the beef issue has been resolved, the Council therefore recommended that the governments of Taiwan and the US resume the TIFA talks at their earliest possible convenience. It professed itself ready to work closely with AmCham and the office of the United States Trade Representative to highlight areas of interest for discussion and possible liberalization.

The Council added that the coming economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China heralded a new phase of bilateral economic relations.

The open and free movement of goods and services between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, it said, will have an important and positive impact on the economic welfare of almost every US company vested in the triangular economic relationship between the US, Taiwan, and China.

However, the US would need to focus its efforts on shaping the appropriate response to ECFA, the Council suggested, adding that it will actively support a US-driven liberalization agenda that promotes its importance as an existing global partner to many of Taiwan’s leading companies.

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