Taiwan and US sign first agreement under 21st century trade initiative
On June 1, the first agreement under the Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st-Century Trade was signed at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Washington Headquarters by Representative to the US Bi-khim Hsiao (蕭美琴) and AIT Managing Director Ingrid Larson. President Tsai Ing-wen affirmed the signing of this agreement and said that she looks forward to Taiwan and the US building an even closer partnership, which will bring about more opportunities for Taiwan's economy and industries.
President Tsai stated that the initiative is the most comprehensive trade agreement signed between Taiwan and the US since 1979, and that aside from creating more opportunities to develop our bilateral trade, it represents a key step in Taiwan's efforts to sign trade agreements with major trading countries. This first agreement lays the groundwork for negotiations on seven different topics: labor, environment, agriculture, digital trade, standards, state-owned enterprises, and non-market policies and practices. The president further stated that following negotiations, the areas covered in this initiative will be expanded, setting a firm foundation for a future Taiwan-US free trade agreement. She also expressed hope that our two sides will continue to strengthen trade ties around this framework.
President Tsai praised and thanked Minister without Portfolio John C. C. Deng (鄧振中) for leading the Executive Yuan Office of Trade Negotiations and for coordinating with Representative Hsiao and different government agencies to facilitate this historic breakthrough in Taiwan-US trade development. However, as our mission has not yet been completed, President Tsai encouraged everyone across government to keep working to enhance our trade capacity, ensure our economic security, and achieve the best possible results for Taiwan and the US.