The two leaders met under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO). 

As a key outcome of the meeting, both sides will work to develop an ambitious road map for negotiations for reaching agreements with high-standard commitments and economically meaningful outcomes in trade facilitation, regulatory practices, agriculture, fight against corruption, harnessing the benefits of digital trade, supporting small and medium enterprises, standards, non-market policies and practices, promoting worker-centric trade, and supporting the environment and climate action.

Both sides will follow trade-facilitating practices, including accelerated implementation of the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, adopting provisions on digitalisation of trade facilitation measures and ensuring inclusivity in accessing customs procedures. 

In addition, the two sides intend to explore negotiating provisions on electronic payments, risk management, protection of trader information and support for small and medium enterprises’ (SME) access to technology used for the clearance of goods.

The two sides seek to support the protection of labour rights, including the elimination of forced labour in global supply chains, according to a USTR release.

Both recognise the significant distortions that can occur to international trade and investment from non-market practices of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises as well as government-designated monopolies, and therefore, seek to develop provisions to create a level-playing field for workers and businesses when competing against these entities in the international marketplace.

The first meeting of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade is expected to be held later this month in Washington, DC.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)