Media Mention: Council Vice President talks Taiwan Bilateral Trade Agreement with The Well News

US-Taiwan Business Council Vice President Lotta Danielsson was interviewed by The Well News for an article entitled “China Irked By US Push for Taiwan Presence at World Health Assembly” published May 14, 2021.

In the interview, she said that there is reason for cautious optimism about the chances of making progress on a Taiwan-U.S. trade deal during the Biden administration. As with the Trump administration, it may be difficult to get the USTR to focus specifically on a bilateral agreement with Taiwan, but there’s a chance some progress will occur over the next four years even if there’s no official start to formal negotiations.

She said that she is pretty confident that new rounds of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) negotiations will open soon. Danielsson added that it will be a step in the right direction, given that the last round of TIFA talks took place way back in 2016. She added that even if TIFA talks resume, it’s not a substitute for working towards a BTA. A BTA could provide a more comprehensive framework on bilateral trade than the more parochial issues discussed under the TIFA framework.