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Taiwan

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


Dominican Republic and Taiwan to sign trade accord soon
Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian said he hopes Taiwan and the Dominican Republic will sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as soon as possible to benefit enterprises in both countries.
Taiwan, Nicaragua ratify free-trade agreement
Taiwan and Nicaragua ratified their free-trade agreement in Taiwan Thursday, further liberalizing trade.
Guatemalan president re-affirms ties with Taiwan
Guatemalan President Oscar Berger says his country will maintain ties with Taiwan. He was meeting with Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian on Wednesday when he made the pledge.
ROC, Honduras, El Salvador sign trilateral FTA
Taiwan, El Salvador and Honduras signed a trilateral free trade agreement in San Salvador May 7. Taiwan’s fourth such agreement with Central American countries, the FTA was expected to boost trade among the three countries, ROC Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Ruey-long said in a May 5 report by Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
Taiwan signs free trade pact with El Salvador, Honduras
Taiwan has signed a free trade agreement with El Salvador and Honduras to expand trade ties between the three countries, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said on Tuesday.
Taipei to sign trade pacts with two allies
Taipei will sign free trade agreements (FTA) with El Salvador and Honduras tomorrow, making it the first multilateral FTA between Taiwan and its trade partners.
Taiwan to sign free trade pact with El Salvador, Honduras
Taiwan’s economics minister will fly to El Salvador Saturday to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with El Salvador and Honduras, making them the fifth and sixth countries to sign an FTA with Taipei, the Economics Ministry said on Friday.
Taiwan’s marginalization by FTAs
The South Korean-US FTA will have the greatest impact on Taiwan of all the agreements signed in the world thus far. Current estimates predict Taiwan will suffer trade losses to the tune of US$2 billion — about 5 percent of Taiwan’s total exports.
Taiwan: EU official says any FTA will be ’some time’
The EU’s de facto ambassador to Taiwan told the European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei that it would be some time before the EU was able to evaluate the feasibility of a FTA with Taiwan. The prerequisites would be whether European companies see any need for or benefits from such a deal and whether the Taiwanese government is interested in signing a pact.
FTAs will impact Taiwan’s industry
It would be difficult to overstate the likely impact on Taiwan of last week’s free-trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the US, because South Korea and Taiwan produce many similar products and are rivals in key industrial sectors.