US Representative Lisa McClain on Monday wrote a letter to President Joe Biden urging the US to pursue a free trade agreement with Taiwan. In the letter, McClain (R-MI) says that the FTA would not only benefit both economies but also allow the United States to counter China’s economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
The letter says that since the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979, Taiwan has been a staunch ally of the US in countering Chinese influence and military expansion in Southeast Asia. The act has been the foundation of US-Taiwan relations in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
The letter also says that an FTA would not only create more opportunities for the US manufacturing and farming industries, but also expand US imports of Taiwanese food products and create opportunities in the area of energy production. In addition, McClain says that the agreement will allow better protection for US companies’ intellectual property rights.
The letter also praises Taiwan’s top semiconductor manufacturer, TSMC, for setting up a factory in the United States. It says that the multi-billion US dollar investment will not only create thousands of high paying middle-class jobs for Americans, but also attract a large amount of indirect investment. McClain says that if the US were to sign an FTA with Taiwan, then ventures like the TSMC factory could be replicated throughout the US.
