The US will begin new trade discussions with Taiwan, according to US officials, only days after President Joe Biden unveiled an economic strategy for Asia geared at putting pressure on China but did not include the Chinese-claimed island.
In the following weeks, Washington and Taipei will “move fast to build a framework” for the planned US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, which will be followed by in-person discussions in Washington later in June, according to two senior US administration officials.
The initiative largely parallels the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) with 13 Asian countries that he launched last week.
But the United States did not invite democratically self-governed Taiwan to join the IPEF talks.
The initiative with Taiwan would not need congressional approval because it will not include market access requirements or reduced tariffs.
The so-called U.S. “fast track” negotiating authority for major trade agreements expired in July 2021.
The United States had lacked an economic pillar for its Indo-Pacific engagement since former president Donald Trump quit a multinational trans-Pacific trade agreement.
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