- Negotiations
Taiwan actively seeks bilateral free trade agreements, though it is hampered in this effort by its status vis-a-vis China. It has FTAs already with Panama (2003), Guatemala (2005), Nicaragua (2006), El Salvador (2007) and Honduras (2007). It is negotiating with Dominican Republic and Paraguay. And it hopes to negotiate further deals with Costa Rica, Israel, Swaziland, Japan, the US of course, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Mexico. Taipei’s emphasis on Central American countries as FTA partners is to gain access to the US market under NAFTA and CAFTA. But now Taiwan is in talks with China for a possible FTA following the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the two governments in 2010.
last update: May 2012
Photo: simonwai/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
11-May-2010
President Ma Ying-jeou said Tuesday that Japan is a major trading partner of Taiwan and that he hopes the two countries can sign a free trade agreement (FTA).
27-Apr-2010
The signature campaign for the petition to initiate a referendum on the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China launched by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) along with 50 other associations is coming along smoothly. It passed the initial threshold of 86,000 signatures in a very short time and without waiting for the Central Election Committee’s decision, the campaign is now proceeding to the second stage, which requires 860,000 signatures.
29-Mar-2010
Reuters
Taiwan has leveraged its goal of a landmark trade deal with China to open talks with Japan, the United States and other powers on free trade deals expected to boost the long-isolated island economy, officials said on Friday.
23-Mar-2010
Jakarta Post
Taiwan is looking to negotiate a free-trade agreement with ASEAN as soon as it accomplishes its historic economic partnership with China, slated to be signed this June, say official and scholars.
18-Mar-2010
A legislative committee meeting to hear a report on the government’s proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China was postponed again after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers dismissed the report as a “false front.”
14-Mar-2010
The Presidential Office yesterday hit back at critics — including former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) — who said on Saturday that an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) the government is seeking to sign with Beijing this year will undermine Taiwan’s competitiveness.
5-Feb-2010
Straits Times
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou on Thursday expressed his wish to strike a free trade agreement with Japan
23-Jan-2010
Lai Hsingyuan, minister of Mainland Affairs Counsel, noted surprisingly yesterday that ECFA and FTA with other countries are totally different things, and she hadn’t noticed any disturbance from China over the last 20 months.
19-Nov-2009
The government has earmarked close to five hundred items for inclusion on an "Early Harvest" list in an economic agreement with China, according to Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang on Wednesday.
9-Nov-2009
President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday contradicted himself when talking about bilateral trade agreements. While he said bilateral negotiations would put Taiwan in an unfavorable position, his administration is making strenuous efforts to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing.
