Taipei, Taiwan
CNN
—
The United States and Taiwan agreed on the first phase of a bilateral trade initiative on Thursday, less than a year after talks began, signaling a growing relationship between Washington and Taipei.
The new initiative, called the US-Taiwan 21st Century Trade Initiative, was first announced last June. This will be the first formal trade agreement between Taiwan and the United States since US President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
Although tariffs are not part of the trade initiative, the agreement covers areas such as trade facilitation, regulatory practices, domestic regulation of services, anti-corruption and support for small and medium enterprises. , the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement.
“This achievement is an important step in strengthening the economic relationship between the United States and Taiwan,” US Trade Representative Catherine Tay said in a statement.
“It shows how we can work together for our people and advance our mutual business priorities. We look forward to continuing these negotiations and concluding a strong, high-level trade agreement that meets the pressing economic challenges of the 21st century,” he added.
The new agreement marks Taiwan’s first formal trade deal since last year’s withdrawal from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a regional economic plan launched by Biden.
The U.S. Trade Representative said negotiations will begin soon to finalize the remaining seven areas of the bilateral trade initiative, which include agriculture, labor, environment, standards, public enterprises, and digital trade. and non-market policies and practices.
He said the signing ceremony would take place “in the coming weeks”.
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