WASHINGTON, USA – The United States and Taiwan, under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), will hold an in-person negotiating round for the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade in Taipei, Taiwan, from January 14-17, 2023.
The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will lead the US delegation as the designated representative of AIT. The US delegation will be led by Assistant United States Trade Representative Terry McCartin and will include representatives from several other US government agencies.
Background
On June 1, 2022, Deputy United States Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi and Taiwan minister-without-portfolio John Deng met virtually under the auspices of AIT and TECRO to launch the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, which is intended to develop concrete ways to deepen the economic and trade relationship, advance mutual trade priorities based on shared values, and promote innovation and inclusive economic growth for our workers and businesses, including through new trade agreements.
On August 17, 2022, the United States and Taiwan, under the auspices of AIT and TECRO, announced the negotiating mandate for formal trade negotiations under this new initiative. The negotiating mandate can be found here and includes a robust agenda for negotiations aimed at reaching agreements on trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, strong anti-corruption standards, enhancing trade between our small and medium enterprises, deepening agriculture trade, removing discriminatory barriers to trade, digital trade, robust labor and environmental standards, as well as ways to address distortive practices of state-owned enterprises and non-market policies and practices.
On November 8-9, 2022, the United States and Taiwan, under the auspices of AIT and TECRO, held two days of productive conceptual discussions in New York, during which they exchanged views on the key concepts to be addressed in several of the trade areas set out in the negotiating mandate.
These trade negotiations are being conducted in accordance with the United States’ one-China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three US-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances.
