US, Taiwan Launch Partnership ‘Initiative’ on 21st Century Trade

The U.S. and Taiwan launched a bilateral “initiative” on 21st century trade that’s intended “to develop concrete ways to deepen” their economic and trade relationship and advance their “mutual trade priorities based on shared values,” said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Wednesday. The U.S. and Taiwan “are market-oriented economies and understand the harm that can be caused by trade partners that deploy non-market policies and practices,” said USTR in a veiled reference to China. “Both sides believe in building consumer trust in the digital economy, promoting access to information, facilitating use of digital technologies, promoting resilient and secure digital infrastructure, and addressing discriminatory and trade-distortive practices in the digital economy.” News of the collaboration likely won’t sit well with Beijing, which warned the U.S. Tuesday to “immediately stop official exchanges with Taiwan in any form.” The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry didn’t comment about Wednesday’s U.S.-Taiwan announcement.