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Published Date: 2017-06-08
The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, or AmCham Taipei, supports Taiwan signing a free trade agreement with the US. That’s according to AmCham’s 2017 Taiwan White Paper published on Thursday. The paper is a report that assesses Taiwan’s business climate and sets priority issues.
Responding to the report, the Presidential Office said the paper’s suggestion is in line with the administration’s policy. In order for the two sides to sign an FTA, Taiwan must first deal with the issue of US imports of agricultural goods. The government says Taiwan hopes to secure food safety and the rights of local farmers before taking part in any international trade negotiations. The Presidential Office said the government will work on promoting overall economic development and expand bilateral cooperation for a win-win.
The document said that Taiwan had previously hoped to join the regional Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact. However, the US withdrawal from the TPP makes it uncertain whether Taiwan will be able to remove the political barriers to joining. The report said an alternative would be to sign an FTA with the US but Taiwan would first have to resolve the issue of American pork imports.
Cabinet spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung said AmCham Taipei is a civil organization and does not represent the US government. Hsu said signing an FTA with the US would depend on formal talks with the US government in order to move forward.