The second round of "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade" negotiations ended on Jan. 17. Trade Representative John Deng said there is a consensus with the U.S. on a majority of clauses, which will be confirmed over the next several weeks via videoconferences. There could be an early harvest agreement.
Minister without Portfolio John Deng, who also serves as Taiwan's trade representative, held a press conference on Jan. 17 to discuss the progress made during the second round of "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade" negotiations. He said the negotiations concluded smoothly.
John Deng, Trade Representative, Office of Trade Negotiations: “The two sides have reached a consensus on the great majority of the clauses. There are still a few clauses that require further negotiation.”
The first round of talks took place in November 2022 in New York. The second round was held in Taipei. The U.S. sent over 20 people to Taiwan for the talks. The initiative includes 11 subjects, and the "services domestic regulation" was added this time. An early harvest agreement could be signed on this subject along with trade facilitation, SMEs, anti-corruption, and good regulatory practices.
John Deng, Trade Representative, Office of Trade Negotiations: “It's very clear that future trade cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. will be conducted on a very equal basis.”
Roy Lee, senior deputy executive director of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research's Taiwan WTO and RTA Center, says disputed clauses should have been resolved in the second round and the final work such as sorting out legal clauses should be underway. If all goes smoothly, the overall negotiations can be completed by November. This will show members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that Taiwan is ready to become a member. However, China may throw up some political obstacles.
Roy Lee, Sr. Dep. Exec. Director, Taiwan WTO & RTA Center, CIER: “The U.S. is usually the country that demands the highest standards from others, so if the U.S. accepts Taiwan, then completing the negotiations per se is good proof that Taiwan is ready. However, this won't help with the political obstacles in joining the CPTPP.”
Scholars say the U.S. did not invite Taiwan to partake in Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity talks in May 2022. This initiative should be a response to that.
Li Da-jung, Assoc. Prof., Grad. Inst. of Int'l Affairs & Strategic Studies, TKU: “If Taiwan can, then of course it would like to participate in multilateral mechanisms while maintaining bilateral relations with the U.S. That's not to say that the bilateral mechanism between Taiwan and the U.S. is not good. It's still good, and can promote some mutual cooperation. However, this is an arrangement that was made because Taiwan has no chance of joining multilateral mechanisms in the short term.”
Deng said negotiations are still ongoing and he can't say when the final agreement will be signed. The current work is confirming content and he hopes there will be a major achievement this year.
擔任總談判代表的政委鄧振中，昨（17）日晚間出面說明「台美21世紀貿易倡議」第2回合談判進展，他表示順利完成。
經貿談判辦公室總談判代表鄧振中表示：「有很大部分的條文，雙方都已經有共識了，那還有少數一些條文，還需要再，雙方再繼續做協商。」
第1回合談判去年11月在紐約舉行，第2回合在台北舉行，美方團隊超過20人來台，倡議共包含11議題，此次又新增「服務業國內規章」可望與貿易便捷化、中小企業、反貪污和良好法規，包裹簽署早收協議。
經貿談判辦公室總談判代表鄧振中指出：「非常明顯的，將來台灣跟美國的合作是會，經貿方面的合作，會是站在很平等的基礎上面來進行。」
第2輪談判完成，中華經濟研究院資深副執行長李淳認為，應已解決爭議條文，進入法律條文梳理等收尾工作，如果順利推進，應可於11月完成整體談判，也對CPTPP成員證明台灣準備好了加入，不過不能否認存來自中國因素的政治障礙。
中華經濟研究院資深副執行長李淳表示：「美國是通常都是要求別人最高的國家，它都可以接受，完成談判本身自己就是一個最好的證明，說台灣準備好了，可是它對於我們加入CPTPP的政治障礙，其實沒有什麼改變的效果。」
學者觀察，去年5月美國未將台灣納入印太經濟框架首輪成員，此次倡議應是對這個結果，有所有回應。
淡江大學國際事務與戰略研究所副教授李大中表示：「如果台灣有可能的話，當然是希望能夠加入多邊機制，同時維持台美之間的雙邊，沒有說台美雙邊機制不好，還是很好，可以推進一些彼此的一些構連，但是有點是在沒有辦法短期之內，進入多邊之下的一個安排。」
至於何時何地完成簽署，總談判代表鄧振中表示尚未討論到，目前的工作重點是把協議內容確定下來，希望最快在今年有相當大幅度的成果。
