Taiwan¡¯s top trade negotiator has signaled a desire to expand Taipei¡¯s initial agreement with Washington into one that more closely resembles a free trade deal, as the export-dependent economy works to counter China¡¯s efforts at isolating it.
The island¡¯s trade officials are talking with their U.S. counterparts about broadening the scope of their current arrangement, reached earlier this year, John Deng, the head of Taiwan¡¯s Office of Trade Negotiations, said in an interview in Taipei last week.
¡°One goal is to expand the coverage: more topics like agriculture, labor. We are willing to talk, whatever (an) international trade regime needs to address,¡± Deng said. ¡°Second is the market access issue, that is tariffs. We hope that one day the U.S. government is ready for tariff talk.¡±
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