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US aims to deepen its trade ties with
Taiwan: AIT head
By Crystal Hsu / STAFF REPORTER
American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei chair
Alan Eusden, left, shakes hands with American Institute in Taiwan Chairman
Raymond Burghardt at AmCham¡¦s annual -general meeting in Taipei yesterday, where
Burghardt delivered a speech on the US-Taiwan -economic partnership.
PHOTO: CNA
The US aims to deepen trade ties with Taiwan in areas of
intellectual property protection, electronic commerce, customs administration
and standards and technical barriers to standards, a top US official on Taiwan
said in Taipei yesterday.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt said the US would
bring up these and other issues in the next round of trade talks under the Trade
and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed in 1994.
¡§The US is very interested in seeking new ways to deepen our economic
cooperation,¡¨ Burghardt told the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in
Taipei. ¡§We are currently looking at areas such as electronic commerce,
transparency, standards, enforcement of intellectual property rights and
cooperation in labor affairs.¡¨
Burghardt did not specify when the next round of TIFA talks would be.
However, the AIT said in a press release on Sept. 30: ¡§The two sides are working
to finalize mutually agreeable dates for the [TIFA] meeting and are targeting
late 2010 or early 2011.¡¨
Taiwan is the US¡¦ ninth--largest trading partner, with two-way trade volume
amounting to more than US$46 billion last year, while the US is the largest
foreign investor in Taiwan and the destination of 11 percent of Taiwanese
exports.
Despite improving trade ties, the US remains concerned about Taiwan¡¦s
restrictions on the import of certain US beef and beef products, Burghardt said.
The legislature partially reinstated the ban in January due to fears of mad cow
disease after health regulators gave approval in October.
¡§These measures have been implemented despite our agreement last October on a
bilateral protocol on beef,¡¨ the US official said. ¡§Taiwan¡¦s failure to
implement this agreement has complicated our trade relationship by calling into
question Taiwan¡¦s reliability and credibility as a negotiating partner.¡¨
It is Burghardt¡¦s first visit after Saturday¡¦s special municipality elections
and he is slated to meet with some of the elected mayors.
The de facto US ambassador praised the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement
(ECFA) signed by Taiwan and China and recommended that the WTO be notified of
the pact.
¡§Now that the agreement is in force, we encourage the parties to notify [the]
ECFA to the WTO ... we will be closely observing the ECFA process as it moves
forward,¡¨ Burghardt said.
He voiced hope that the pact would help make Taiwan a more attractive place to
trade and invest by facilitating efforts by firms from the US and other
countries to base regional operations in Taiwan.
¡§If [the] ECFA is to be a truly successful arrangement, firms from the United
States and other countries must also be able to benefit,¡¨ Burghardt said.
¡§Hopefully, the pact will help stimulate an overall increase in the US economic
presence in the region, including greater US exports to both Taiwan and China.¡¨
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