Sino-Japanese Finance: AmCham Taiwan Called U.S. For ‘Urgent’ Taiwan Free Trade Talks

On June 22, the AmCham Taiwan (American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan) released its annual policy paper stating that the United States should “urgently” start talks with Taiwan on a free agreement aimed at submit a complete text for passage next year.

Taiwan, in the face of relentless diplomatic and military pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has long campaigned for such an agreement. Taiwan is a reliable partner of the United States sharing the same democratic values.

The AmChamber Taiwan said they are “urgently” calling on the government to start talks with Taiwan on a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and “submit a complete text for passage in 2024”.
Such a deal would encourage other like-minded partners to make similar arrangement with Taiwan to further open Taiwan’s economy and “effectively” address the Influence of Taiwan’s critical chip industry on the economic and security.“In addition to these strategic trade elements that have clear impact on U.S. defense preparedness, a BTA would also strengthen the economies of the United States and Taiwan, thus better address the security threats from the Communist China.”Chamber President Andrew Wylegala told reporters in Taipei that there is “no clear indicators” that the Biden administration is considering a BTA in the near future, but it could go further.

He added: “I would put Taiwan in that small and rare group of partners that the U.S. would view as particularly desirable to pull into an FTA,” He was referring to free trade agreements.
Under the new U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, Taiwan and the United States will hold high-level trade talks in Washington, D.C., at the end of this month.