The Administration may soon reach agreement on an “early harvest” in its ongoing trade negotiations with Taiwan, Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi said last week.
Negotiations on the US-Taiwan 21st Century Trade Initiative began last June and “we hope to conclude an early harvest soon,” she told a conference on rethinking world trade sponsored by Georgetown Law’s Center on Inclusive Trade and Development.
Summaries of proposed texts covering customs administration and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, services domestic regulation, anti-corruption and small- and medium-size enterprises were released last month.
Those five issues have been tagged for possible early harvest out of the 12 under negotiation. The remaining issues are agriculture, standards, digital trade, labor, environment, state-owned enterprises and non-market economies and practices.
Meanwhile, the Administration will hold its first round of negotiations on a similar trade agreement with Kenya, according to Ms. Bianchi. The aim is to produce an agreement that will be a model of what can be done with countries in Africa that are ready to take the next step away from the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade preferences program.
The Administration also is looking for “tangible progress” this year on the Indo-Pacific Economic Cooperation Framework with 13 countries, she said.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai will be discussing the IPEF next week with two participating countries – Japan and the Philippines.
“Collectively, the fourteen IPEF countries make up 40 percent of global GDP,” Ms. Bianchi said. “If we can establish a set of norms and rules of the road, we can bind our economies together in meaningful ways that make our economies more resilient and help workers. IPEF will reduce some of the costly non-tariff barriers to trade, set common-sense standards for the digital economy, strengthen supply chains with like-minded partners, craft responsible rules of the road on labor and the environment, and achieve other priorities that will help redefine the world of traditional trade.”
Meanwhile, China’s unfair trade policies remain a key focus, she said. “We need a new playbook on the PRC that serves our economic interests and defends our values. And we will continue to press the PRC on its state-centered and non-market trade practices, and to live up to its commitments through the Phase One agreement.”
The comprehensive four-year review process of the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports is being use to take “a deliberate and strategic look at how we can serve our interests in light of the PRC’s continued unfair policies and practices,” she stated.
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