Michael Martina and David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – New trade negotiations will be opened with Taiwan by the United States, officials from the United States said Wednesday. The announcement came just days after Joe Biden’s economic plan for Asia was launched.

Two senior U.S. officials said that Washington and Taipei would “move quickly” to create a plan for the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. This will be followed later in June by meetings in person in Washington.

According to one U.S. official, the initiative will aim to achieve “high standard commitments that create inclusive, durable prosperity”. It covers issues such as customs facilitation. Fighting corruption. Common standards for digital trade. Labor rights.

Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework was launched by him last week in Seoul and Tokyo. This economic partnership is closely linked to this bilateral initiative. The United States didn’t invite Taiwan, which is democratically self-governing, to the IPEF negotiations.

Analysts believed that countries outside of Taiwan would be reluctant to form a coalition with it, fearing Beijing’s anger. Beijing considers Taiwan its sovereign territory. More than 200 U.S. Congress members had urged Taiwan to be included in IPEF.

Washington’s U.S. trade representative led the talks with Taiwan. The official stated that the discussions would complement several other dialogues with Taiwan including the one by the Commerce Department regarding export control and supply chain issues.

NO TARIFF CUTS, ‘MARKET ACCESS’

According to the official, Congress would not approve the Taiwan initiative, which is similar to IPEF. It will not have market access requirements and reduced tariffs. Biden has not requested Congress to renew the “fast track” U.S. negotiating authority in major trade agreements.

“We believe that there are lots of strong areas that can be covered, which would really deepen economic engagement, strengthen economic ties and reduce market access concerns. The official added that we aren’t ruling out anything for the future.

The second official stated that the initiative was part of a wider effort to highlight the U.S.’s commitment to the region in particular economically.

After former President Donald Trump resigned from a trans-Pacific multilateral trade agreement, America had lost an economic pillar in its Indo-Pacific engagement. Partly because of concerns over U.S. employment.

However, trade experts are questioning whether Washington has the ability to build momentum around any arrangement that does not offer greater access into the U.S. Market.

While the United States has never had official relations to Taiwan, which is a significant producer of semiconductors in America, it has intensified engagement with Taiwan as China attempts to isolate Taiwan from international institutions.

After a meeting between Sarah Bianchi, Deputy U.S. trade representative and John Deng, Taiwan’s chief trading negotiator under the informal American Institute in Taiwan and Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (the United States), the announcement was made.