U.S. and Taiwan plan to launch new trade initiative 

The United States and Taiwan plan to launch a new trade initiative, Taiwan’s trade representative announced on Wednesday after the island was excluded from the U.S. Indo-Pacific economic initiative that the Biden administration announced last week.

The U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is officially launching negotiations between the two countries and is a precursor to signing a free trade agreement, Taiwan’s trade representative John Deng said on Wednesday at a news conference. 

The historic initiative will cover 11 areas, including "trade facilitation, regulatory practices, agriculture, anti-corruption, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, digital trade, labor rights, the environment, standards, state-owned enterprises, and non-market practices and policies," Deng added. 

The initiative aims to "develop an ambitious roadmap for negotiations for reaching agreements with high-standard commitments and economically meaningful outcomes," said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representatives in a statement.

The first meeting of the negotiation will take place in June when Deng will travel to Washington, D.C., to talk with the Biden administration.  

"We intend to explore ways we can deepen our bilateral economic and trade relationships and deliver concrete outcomes for our people," a Biden administration official said.

"In the days and weeks ahead, we will move we will move quickly to develop a roadmap for possible negotiations, followed by in-person meetings in Washington DC next month," the official said. 

The move comes after Biden announced the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) last week in Tokyo, which is an economic plan for 13 Asian countries, except Taiwan. IPEF, a substitute for former president Donald Trump’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, aims to enhance U.S. engagement in the region and push back on China.  

"We are committed to finding ways to deepen trade investment with Taiwan, which is why we developed this initiative," a senior official said. "We think that this initiative will allow greater focus on our partnership with Taiwan and greater tailoring of the conversation and the unique characteristics of our trade relationship."