(ANSA) — BEIJING, AUGUST 18 — Taiwan and the U.S. have reached “negotiation mandate consensus” on 11 areas — including climate, agriculture and digital trade — with the goal of working under the “US-Taiwan Trade Initiative.” of the 21st Century,” announced last June a few days after the “Indo-Pacific Economic Initiative,” which ruled out Taipei. The deal, if achieved, will not be the free trade deal the island has been hinting at instead.
The negotiations will deepen bilateral trade and investment ties, promote mutual trade priorities based on shared values, and promote innovation and inclusive economic growth for workers and businesses in Taiwan and the U.S., the Bureau of the United States Trade Representatives (Ustr) said in a statement.
The announcement, which has matured amid rising tensions from China’s unprecedented military maneuvers around the island in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan earlier this month, is destined to stoke tensions between Washington and Beijing, which he more adamantly accuses the American side of violating the “One China” principle/policy as the basis of bilateral relations. On the other hand, the initiative does not fully meet Taiwan’s hopes for a bilateral free trade agreement, although the talks are seen as important to keep communications open and in hopes of negotiating such an agreement in the future.
Taiwan is the United States’ ninth-largest trading partner and one of the world’s largest suppliers of semiconductors and other high-tech components, according to the United States Trade Representative Office for 2020. (HAND).
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