TAIPEI - It is too early
to talk about the signing of a free-trade agreement (FTA)
between Taiwan and the United States as the stances on
both sides on relevant concerns are still hugely
divided, a top Taiwanese trade official said on Sunday.
Huang Chih-peng, director general of the Bureau
of Foreign Trade (BOFT) under the Ministry of Economic
Affairs, said that at present, he does not see any intent on
the part of the United States to begin even assessing or
talking about signing an FTA with Taiwan.
Trade officials from the two countries are scheduled to
meet in Taipei on June 27-28 for bilateral talks on issues
of mutual concern.
However, the meeting has been
sensationalized by Taiwan's media as a prelude to
signing an FTA.
As a result, according to
Huang, his US counterparts informed him recently that
big differences between the US and Taiwan stances on
many issues remain and that the United States has
not yet assessed the possibility of signing an FTA with
Taiwan.
The US officials said the Taiwan
media should not have sensationalized the meeting so as
to cause misunderstandings, said Huang.
Huang said officials from the two countries are
expected to exchange views during the June 27-28 meeting
on issues including intellectual property rights
protection, Taiwan's rice imports, pharmaceutical data
exclusivity and pricing systemm and Taiwan's opening of
its fixed broadband infrastructure market.
He added that there is a possibility the meeting may be
postponed.
Huang said Taiwan and the
United States had indeed made attempts to prepare for
signing a bilateral FTA, even beginning talks on a trade
and investment framework agreement (TIFA). The
TIFA was never signed and the Taiwan-US TIFA talks have
stalled as a result of differences between the two sides
on many vital issues, Huang said.
Huang noted,
however, that the BOFT may formally ask the United States to
resume the TIFA talks if the upcoming meeting is
fruitful.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of
National Affairs (BNA) Inc on Sunday reported that although the
Executive Yuan has made signing an FTA with the United
States a top priority in efforts to bolster trade with
friendly countries, the United States suspects Taiwan
has political rather than economic motives for wanting
the FTA.
A reporter from the BNA, the largest US
independent publisher of specialized news for
professionals in business and government, visited Taiwan
recently and reported that the building of FTA relations
between Taiwan and the United States is entwined with
complicated political wrangling involving not only the
two sides but also mainland China.
Meanwhile,
the Taiwan authorities have complained the United States
has stalled TIFA and FTA talks with Taiwan because of
pressure from Beijing, the BNA report said.
In a meeting
with Andrea Wu, the president of the American
Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei, and other AmCham
members at the Executive Yuan last Friday, Premier Yu
Shyi-kun said an FTA between Taiwan and the United
States would be in the interests of both countries and
expressed the hope that AmCham will help bring about the
signing of such an agreement.
(CNA/Asia Pulse)
Jun 15, 2004
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