A helpful initiative 🇹🇼🇺🇸

The U.S. and Taiwan have announced that they have reached a consensus on the negotiating mandate for the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, which sets out the broad objectives of the two countries.

• The focus is on: trade facilitation; good regulatory and anticorruption, agriculture, and digital trade practices; trade enhancement between small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and non-market, labor, and environmental policies.

As for agricultural trade in particular, actions to facilitate it will be adopted, as well as collaborative mechanisms for food security and innovative technologies – to increase productivity and climate adaptation, for instance.

• In 2021, Taiwan was the seventh largest export market for U.S. agriculture. 
• The top U.S. agricultural exports were soybeans, beef and beef products, corn, wheat, fresh fruit, food preparations, poultry meat and products (excluding eggs), and dairy products.

Senator John Thune, the sponsor of the legislation, said it would prevent the administration from implementing rules that increase costs and require that the administration recognize how its actions can have impacts that compromise the U.S.’ food and energy security.

• The Senate Finance Committee will vote on the nomination of Doug McKalip to be the Chief Agriculture Negotiator. During the hearing, he will be questioned why the administration was not seeking free trade agreements to give greater market access for U.S. products and thus alleviate pressure on national farmers, while competitors have been doing so and producers are facing uncertainty.