WASHINGTON: The United States and Taiwan signed a trade deal on Thursday (Jun 1) aimed at deepening economic relations between both sides – in a move that has sparked a warning from Beijing.
The US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade looks to boost trade by streamlining customs checks, improving regulatory procedures, and establishing anticorruption measures between the United States and the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.
While Washington and Taipei do not have official diplomatic relations, they maintain unofficial ties through the de facto US embassy on the island, the American Institute in Taiwan.
The first agreement under the latest initiative was signed by representatives of the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, said the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) press office on Thursday.
The pact is “intended to strengthen and deepen the economic and trade relationship” between both sides, USTR spokesperson Sam Michel added in a statement.
Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi attended the signing ceremony, he said.
“We thank our Taiwan partners for helping us reach this important milestone and look forward to upcoming negotiations on additional trade areas set forth in the initiative’s negotiating mandate,” Michel said.