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Allow ractopamine and
US will help: KMT
BEEF AS BAIT: After a meeting at the AIT
yesterday, KMT lawmakers said the US beef issue had to be resolved before there
could be progress in regional or US trade talks
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday assured the public
that long-stalled negotiations with the US under the Trade and Investment
Framework Agreement (TIFA) platform would resume if Taiwan lifted the ban on
imports of US beef containing residues of the leanness-enhancing drug
ractopamine.
Speaking to the media following a one-hour meeting with American Institute in
Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton, KMT Legislator Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said
Stanton was explicit in his comments that he was confident the US has the
determination to resume TIFA talks when the beef issue is resolved.
Lin said the impression he gathered from the meeting was that “once we make a
breakthrough in the beef dispute, we will make headway in all aspects of
US-Taiwan relations.”
The KMT initiated the meeting with Stanton yesterday to “highlight the
importance of the beef issue to other subjects related with the development of
bilateral relations,” KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) said.
“South Korea had signed a free-trade agreement [FTA] with the US, which went
into force on March 15, after it opened its market to US beef. Likewise,
Taiwanese would like to know what the benefits are of allowing imports of US
beef containing ractopamine residues. That’s why we visited the AIT to get a
clear idea,” Tsai said.
Tsai said Stanton gave them “three promises” — that the US would resume TIFA
talks, assist Taiwan in taking part in the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership and
complete the process of including Taiwan in its visa waiver program — when the
beef issue is resolved.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) proposed conditionally allowing imports of US beef
with the feed additive after he won re-election in January, hoping to pave the
way for the resumption of TIFA talks, but Washington has yet to offer any
promise to reopen negotiations.
“At the meeting, AIT officials spoke affirmatively and sanguinely that a
resolution of the beef issue would be of great help to both sides in making
progress on other issues,” KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said.
In a telephone interview, AIT spokesperson Christopher Kavanagh declined to
reveal details of the meeting or discuss Tsai’s remarks about the “three
promises.”
Kavanagh said the beef issue “has been the major stumbling block to our
bilateral trade relations with Taiwan” and was the sole issue that thwarted TIFA
talks in 2010 and again last year.
“Taiwan is an important trade and investment partner for the US. We hope to
resume our TIFA talks as soon as possible to advance our common trade and
investment interests,” he said.
In terms of trade liberalization, Kavanagh said there have been some exciting
developments in the region, with some countries signing FTAs with the US and “we
welcome Taiwan’s efforts to be part of such long-term development.”
Taiwan’s application to join the US’ visa waiver program is at its final stage,
pending approval by the US Department of Homeland Security. Kavanagh said the
beef issue, which is a trade matter, has nothing to do with progress on the visa
program.
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