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Taiwan, a major semiconductor producer, has long campaigned for
such a deal, in what would be a strong show of support for the
Chinese-claimed island in the face of unrelenting diplomatic and
military pressure from Beijing. It says it is a reliable partner
for the United States with shared democratic values.
While Taiwan was in 2022 excluded from the Biden
administration's Asia-focused economic plan designed to counter
China's growing influence, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework,
or IPEF, Washington instead began talks with Taiwan under the
"21st Century" trade initiative.
Speaking at the release of its annual White Paper, the American
Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan's chairman, Dan Silver, said a
significant portion of the building blocks for a free trade deal
will already be formally agreed upon if the "21st Century"
agreement is completed.
"The question will then become one of political will. And we can
see through the USTR's priorities for 2024 released in the first
quarter that Taiwan is very high on the agenda," he added,
referring to the United States Trade Representative.
"Our belief is that we know bilateral trade agreements in
general do not have the level of support in Washington they once
did; we also are aware that there are few places that have a
higher level of bipartisan support than Taiwan," said Silver,
whose body represents more than 570 companies.
"And our view is that with the '21st Century' initiative on its
way to completion, with the strong bipartisan support for Taiwan
in Congress, there is a prospect that a bilateral trade
agreement could be in the offing sometime in the future."
Beijing has denounced the "21st Century" trade talks as it does
with all forms of high level engagement between the United
States and Taiwan, which do not have formal diplomatic ties.
Taiwan strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry)
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