Twenty-five U.S. senators and several federal House members introduced a unanimous resolution in both chambers Wednesday (Dec. 23) calling for the United States to initiate free trade negotiations with Taiwan to strengthen U.S.-Taiwan trade ties and counteract the Communist Party of China’s hostility toward Taiwan and its aggressive actions in the region.
According to Voice of America, the proposal for a quarter of the members of the U.S. Senate to co-sign in support of a U.S.-Taiwan FTA is a further statement by lawmakers pushing the issue with concrete legislative action, following a letter sent by 50 senators to U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer in October calling on him to initiate bilateral trade agreement negotiations with Taiwan that went unanswered.
The Senate version of the resolution was introduced by Republican U.S. Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and co-sponsored by several committee chairmen, including Armed Services Committee Chairman Inhofe and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Johnson, and co-sponsored by 24 senators from the same party, including Republican heavyweights such as Rubio, Cruz, Cotton and Cornyn. The House version was introduced by Toomey’s Pennsylvania colleague, Republican U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, with Taiwan Link’s two Republican co-chairs, Chabot and Barrett, as co-sponsors.
In a statement, Toomey said, “A closer U.S.-Taiwan trade relationship would be a win-win for both countries, with more customers for American labor and manufacturers, more access to cheap goods for American customers, faster economic growth for both sides, and enhanced U.S. relations with key regional allies and increased economic engagement with our Indo-Pacific region. The Senate should pass this resolution and the incoming Biden Administration should make a trade agreement with Taiwan a priority.”
Rep. Reschenthaler also released a statement saying that this legislation is an important step in building a stronger diplomatic partnership between the U.S. and Taiwan, expanding economic growth and creating jobs through increased market access in the Indo-Pacific region, while also countering the Chinese Communist Party’s hostility toward Taiwan.
“As a member of the Congressional Taiwan Connection, I am proud to introduce this important legislation, which supports the expansion of economic relations between the U.S. and Taiwan with lower trade barriers.” Reschenthaler said, “As an important trading partner for the United States and Pennsylvania, a free trade agreement with Taiwan would strengthen their economic, diplomatic and security partnership in the Indo-Pacific region, while also countering aggressive Chinese Communist Party behavior in the region.”
Reschenthaler said that since his visit to Taiwan in 2019, he has seen Taiwan’s shared economic values and commitment to democracy on the ground and that the U.S. is “past the point of using this opportunity to deepen our trade relationship with Taiwan.” He thanked Senator Toomey, Congressman Barrett and Representative Chabert for working with him to strengthen this enduring partnership.
Taiwan Link Co-Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart (D-N.Y.) said Taiwan is an important friend and democratic partner of the United States, and he supports further strengthening the relationship by deepening economic ties. “While the Chinese Communist Party continues to bully and threaten its neighbors, Taiwan continues to thrive as an economic center and responsible partner on a range of important issues, including public health, democracy advancement and trade. Committing to a free trade agreement with Taiwan will strengthen this important relationship and also allow Taiwan to better respond to the intense threat and hostility from the CCP.”
Another co-chair, Steve Chabot, said, “Taiwan is our top-ranked trading partner, and strengthening our economic partnership will bring economic and strategic benefits to both of our countries. Earlier this fall, President Tsai took bold action to address longstanding barriers to U.S. agricultural imports. It is important that the U.S. Trade Representative take advantage of this goodwill gesture so that opportunities are not lost.”
Rep. Reschenthaler also mentioned Taiwan Representative to the U.S. Mei-Chin Hsiao in his official statement, thanking Senator Toomey and him for introducing the resolution.
Hsiao said, “At a time when both Taiwan and the United States are taking every effort to secure their supply chains and also to make their trade relationship more robust so that they can resume economic growth in the wake of the New Guinea epidemic, a bilateral trade agreement is a reasonable and necessary step to achieve these goals.” She said Taiwan is ready to begin negotiations toward a high-standard trade agreement and hopes to work with the U.S. Congress and the administration to deepen the Taiwan-U.S. trade and economic relationship.
The unanimous House and Senate resolutions set out the background and rationale for supporting a U.S.-Taiwan FTA, including that the United States has consistently supported peaceful relations between Taiwan and the Chinese Communist Party based on the Taiwan Relations Act and its commitment to the Six Assurances; that the Chinese Communist Party has demonstrated hostility toward Taiwan and has actively demonstrated its military capabilities, using economic coercion to make Taiwan economically dependent on it and seeking to isolate Taiwan from the rest of the world; and that U.S. policy is to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and that achieving this goal must include working with like-minded countries in the region to promote trade liberalization.
The resolution also mentions that the United States is currently Taiwan’s 2nd largest trading partner and Taiwan is the 10th largest merchandise trading partner of the United States, with total bilateral trade increasing from $62 billion in 2010 to $86 billion in 2019, and that doing closer engagement with Taiwan through trade negotiations will encourage more open market access for Taiwan, which will benefit the security and economic growth of the United States, Taiwan, and the Indo-Pacific region.
For these reasons, the resolution says, U.S. Senate (House) advice that “the United States should initiate negotiations for a free trade agreement with Taiwan.”
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