1.新聞網址︰
https://on.wsj.com/3fZ9rOh
2.新聞來源︰
華爾街日報
3.完整新聞標題
美國與台灣將啟動貿易協定談判
4.完整新聞內容︰
U.S., Taiwan to Launch Trade Talks
Effort to revive dormant trade and investment framework risks aggravating tens
ions with China
The Biden administration is launching trade and investment talks with Taiwan,
advancing U.S. ties with Taipei and likely adding to frictions with the island
’s nemesis, Beijing.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a House committee on Monday about the p
lans for trade talks. “We are engaged in conversations with Taiwan, or soon w
ill be—on some kind of framework agreement,” Mr. Blinken said in response to
a question from Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.) during the virtual hearing.
Mr. Blinken declined to elaborate and referred questions about details to Kath
erine Tai, the U.S. trade representative, who wasn’t at the hearing. A spokes
man for Ms. Tai’s office said that strengthening relations with Taiwan is imp
ortant, though “we have no meetings to announce at this time.”
The latest effort would revive a dormant trade and investment framework, an ar
rangement that isn’t as comprehensive as the free-trade agreements that the U
.S. has with Canada, Mexico and other top economic partners. Taiwan for years
has sought closer engagement on economic issues, and in the past year the Stat
e Department has sponsored lower-level discussions on closer economic and busi
ness relations.
U.S. ties with Taiwan, a Cold War ally, are a lightning rod in the testy relat
ions between Washington and Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a breakaway province
and vows to use military force if needed to annex the island.
Asked about the trade talks with Taiwan, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy i
n Washington said the U.S. should “stop all forms of official exchanges and c
ontacts with Taiwan, stop elevating its relationship with the Taiwan region in
any substantive way.” The spokesman urged Washington to adhere to decades-ol
d agreements with Beijing, which commit the U.S. to maintaining only formal ti
es as a condition for formal relations with China.
As U.S. ties with China have deteriorated in the past two years, the Trump adm
inistration upped its engagement with Taiwan—and the Biden administration is
carrying that forward. Last week, it rolled out vaccine distribution plans tha
t will include Taiwan, and a trio of U.S. senators visited the island over the
weekend to highlight vaccine cooperation.
“There is also disappointment [in Taiwan] that despite staunch support from b
oth Democratic and Republican administrations in the areas of defense and dipl
omacy, there has been no progress on the trade front,” said Bonnie Glaser, di
rector of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.
Taiwan is a major source of semiconductors for the U.S., which imported $7 bil
lion last year in chips and $20 billion in other computer and telecommunicatio
ns equipment out of $60 billion in total imports, double U.S. exports to the i
sland, according to the Census Bureau.
The Biden administration has made securing supply chains of critical technolog
ies a priority, especially given China’s prominence in manufacturing, and a n
ew trade agreement could aid that effort and bolster Taiwan at a time it is un
der economic and other pressure from Beijing.
“We want to talk about supply-chain security and technology,” said Bi-Khim H
siao, who serves as the de facto ambassador to the U.S. from Taiwan. “Getting
talks back going as soon as possible is an important part of that.” She poin
ted to Beijing’s “economic coercion” in the region.
To try to spur talks last year with the Trump administration, Taiwan eased its
ban on imports of American beef and pork, putting aside a long-running disput
e over U.S. farmers’ use of a feed additive. Still, then U.S. Trade Represent
ative Robert Lighthizer declined to launch trade talks with Taiwan, in part be
cause he wanted to preserve a trade agreement with Beijing, according to peopl
e familiar with the matter.
The U.S. and Taiwan first signed the trade and investment framework agreement
in 1994. Such agreements create the basis for recurring dialogue on trade issu
es, and sometimes lead to full-fledged free-trade agreements.
U.S. and Taiwan officials have met irregularly to hash out trade issues under
the agreement, with 10 meetings in 27 years. The last session was held in Octo
ber 2016.
5.附註、心得、想法︰
國務卿布林肯在眾議院聽證會上回覆眾議員
「我們正在或是即將與台灣在某種架構協定展開對話」
雖布林肯跟貿易代表戴琪並沒有透露更多細節
華爾街日報則表示近來的動作是在為美台潛在的貿易與投資協定做準備