Pact Will Open Taiwan Markets to U.S.

The U.S. said it had reached a market-opening agreement with Taiwan that will promote Taipei’s drive to join the World Trade Organization. “This comprehensive agreement will dramatically open Taiwan’s markets to U.S. agricultural products, services and industrial goods,” U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said in a statement. The U.S. is the 24th of 26 countries to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with Taiwan as part of its bid to join the WTO. Taipei must still work out deals with the European Union and Switzerland before it can complete its WTO membership. U.S. and Taiwanese negotiators covered a number of issues, but access to Taiwan’s agricultural markets was the main sticking point. Angry Taiwanese pork and chicken farmers, worried that U.S. imports would bring economic ruin, protested last week and pelted the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Taipei with pig manure. U.S. producers, particularly pork producers, were eager to crack open Taiwan’s lucrative market. Barshefsky said the agreement would help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with Taiwan, which topped $12 billion last year.