Washington, D.C. – As part of a forum
hosted by The Heritage Foundation and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, U.S.
Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) announced that he will be introducing a Senate
resolution in support of a free trade agreement between the United States and
Taiwan.
During
the forum, Senator Toomey said the following:
“We’ve
got a particularly attractive opportunity to expand trade with Taiwan.
Strengthening those trade ties with Taiwan would benefit us both in security
terms and in economic growth. For the U.S. and Taiwan certainly, but even the
Indo-Pacific region, as a whole. Taiwan is already our tenth largest trading
partner in goods.”
…
“Today,
half of Taiwan’s trade and eighty percent of its investment is with China or
Hong Kong. The U.S. can provide an alternative path. One of the things that we
need to bear in mind as we go down this road, I hope, of expanding our trade
and liberalizing trade with Taiwan is we should have free trade, not managed
trade. We should have a free trade agreement that is based on maximizing free
trade in goods and services, as wells as the movement of capital.”
…
“The
goal of the agreement should be to lower barriers to trade and investment,
preferably to eliminate barriers to trade and investment, and we could do that.
I intend to introduce this week a Senate resolution in support of a U.S.-Taiwan
free trade agreement. Since the Economic Cooperation Framework of 2010,
Taiwan has expressed a desire to pursue new free trade agreements. And we
should credit Taiwan to coming to the table to negotiate with the U.S.”
The
forum, titled U.S.-Taiwan Partnership in Challenging Times, examined the
importance of a free and Democratic Taiwan – especially in the face of the
growing threat authoritarian forces in China pose to the Indo-Pacific region.
In addition to Senator Toomey, the forum included remarks from His Excellency
Ming-Tong Chen – Minister, Mainland Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan)
and Kay Cole James – President, The Heritage Foundation. The forum was hosted
by Walter Lohman – Director, Asian Studies Center.
