2024 presidential elections in US, Taiwan could help spur trade deal, says former State Department official
- But other experts point out the many obstacles that will make it difficult for a pact to be reached, despite the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade
- The US has a trade-in-goods deficit with Taiwan that stood at US$40.27 billion last year, an annual increase of more than 30 per cent
Washington and Taipei should produce “building blocks” through the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade for a bilateral trade deal before the countries’ next presidential elections, a former US State Department official said on Wednesday.
Christian Castro, who was head of Taiwan affairs at the State Department during Barack Obama’s presidency, said the administrations of US President Joe Biden and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen should produce “deliverables” from the latest trade framework to pave way for a bilateral agreement. Both the US and Taiwan have presidential elections in 2024.
“That’s a very good window of opportunity in part because that government will only be in place for the next couple of years,” Castro said, adding that both Tsai and Biden had strong trade negotiating teams.
The Biden administration introduced the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21-Century Trade in June to strengthen ties with the self-ruled island, a major US trading partner, as it comes under increasing Chinese political, economic and military pressure.
The US-Taiwan Trade Initiative mirrors the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a US-led agreement with 12 Asia-Pacific countries which left Taiwan out partly to secure buy-in from other members.