From her base in Washington, D.C., Xiaobing Feng, regional manager for Asia of The Advocacy Center under the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, recently spent several weeks in Taiwan looking at opportunities for increased participation by American companies in Taiwan’s government procurement. In 2014, U.S. companies won 179 contracts worth US$276 million out of…
Each year since 1996 – usually shortly after release of the Taiwan White Paper – AmCham Taipei has organized a week-long “Doorknock” mission to Washington, D.C. to exchange views with U.S. government executive agencies, Congressional offices, think tanks, and others concerned with U.S.-Taiwan bilateral economic relations. The trip is always extremely useful. It gives AmCham…
The upcoming TIFA meeting is seen as a good chance to show commitment to liberalization. This year’s AmCham Taipei Doorknock delegation to Washington D.C. found itself in the U.S. capital during a momentous week that included two historic Supreme Court decisions (upholding “Obamacare” and legalizing single-sex marriages nationwide) and – more germane to the Chamber’s…
The latest annual USTR report provides an item-by-item update on the status of trade issues. Each year at the end of March, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issues a National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, assessing the state of market access for American goods and services in countries around the…
While en route to Singapore to participate in a military exercise, two Okinawa-based F/A-18 fighter jets with the U.S. Marines Fighter Attack Squadron made an emergency landing at Taiwan’s Tainan Air Force Base on April 1 due to a mechanical problem experienced by one of the planes. Guided to the base by jets from the…
As regular readers of this publication are well aware, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei is convinced that Taiwan’s participation in the emerging regional trade grouping known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be absolutely essential for the future well-being of this economy. Exclusion from the TPP in the years ahead will diminish the…
RAISING CONTROVERSY — Taiwan’s representative in the United States thought a flag-raising ceremony would demonstrate improved U.S.-Taiwan relations, but the U.S. government reacted strongly that it did not appreciate the move. When an unprecedented ceremony raising the flag of the Republic of China took place January 1 at Twin Oaks, a Washington, D.C. estate owned…
