The foreign ministry on Tuesday announced that Taiwan and the US have plans to open up bilateral trade talks soon.
The announcement follows Assistant US Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell’s statement on Monday that the US will launch an annual economic and commercial dialogue with Taiwan. Stilwell said the dialogue will touch on topics including semiconductors, health care, intellectual property protection, infrastructure and energy. Stilwell said the US delegation for the bilateral talks will be led by the US Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, Keith Krach.
The US plan for the dialogue is in light of last week’s announcement by President Tsai Ing-wen to further relax bans on US beef and pork imports to Taiwan. Tsai’s announcement was welcomed by US Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Meanwhile, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said Taiwan is one of the biggest and most important trade partners of the US. The AIT said it hopes to see closer trade relations between Taiwan and the US. The AIT is the de facto US embassy in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties.
In response to AIT’s statement, Taiwan’s Presidential Office spokesperson Xavier Chang said that the Presidential Office thanked the US for taking concrete steps to strengthen Taiwan-US economic relations.