No TIFA without US beef solution : lawmaker
China Post |
No TIFA without US beef solution : lawmaker
By Joseph Yeh
The de facto United States envoy to Taiwan has made it clear that the island’s restrictions on the import of certain U.S. beef products have complicated the bilateral trade situation and could jeopardize the restarting of trade pact talks, a ruling Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker said yesterday.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton said the U.S. beef issue is the main obstacle in the way of suspended Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks, KMT party whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said at a press conference after meeting with the outgoing AIT head in Taipei.
“Solving the problem is definitely helpful in resuming the TIFA talks,” Lin quoted Stanton as saying.
The AIT director further promised that the U.S. government is willing to support Taiwan’s bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the future once the beef dispute is resolved, Lin said.
According to Lin, he and three other ruling party lawmakers visited Stanton at the AIT’s Taipei office yesterday afternoon to clarify whether the beef issue is indeed the true obstacle blocking the way of Taipei and Washington resuming TIFA talks which were originally set to resume last January.
