USA And Taiwan To Sign Agreement Centering Bilateral Ties

Taiwan and the United States will sign the first deal under a new trade talks framework on Thursday, according to both governments, bolstering bilateral ties at a time of increased tensions with China over the democratically-governed island.

Last August, Taiwan and the United States began talks under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade after Washington excluded Taiwan from its larger pan-Asian trade initiative, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

Taiwan's Office of Trade Negotiations said in a brief statement that the framework's first agreement would be signed in Washington on Thursday morning U.S. time, but provided no further details.

The office of the United States Trade Representative stated that Deputy United States Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi would attend the event, but provided no further details.

Last month, the two sides agreed on the first phase of their trade initiative, which covered customs and border procedures, regulatory practises, and small businesses.

After the initial agreement is signed, the USTR has previously stated that negotiations will begin on other, more complicated trade areas such as agriculture, digital trade, labour and environmental standards, state-owned enterprises, and non-market policies and practises.

The pact is not expected to change goods tariffs, but supporters claim it will strengthen economic ties between the US and Taiwan, open the island to more US exports, and increase Taiwan's ability to resist Chinese economic coercion.

Beijing has condemned the trade talks, as it has all high-level engagement between Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory, and the US.

Taiwan emphatically rejects China's sovereignty claims, which Beijing has been attempting to impose on Taipei through a series of military exercises, including war games on the island.