Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of the trade climate, let?s focus on some positives. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had its first-ever trade mission to Taiwan, and the timing couldn?t have been any better.
The trade delegation headed by USDA?s Foreign Agricultural Service chief Ken Isley comes at a key time for US agriculture, still under punishing Chinese tariffs on soybeans, pork and other goods. The USDA was joined by 49 agribusinesses and farm groups in this trade mission. The hopes are to expand farm sales in Taiwan. The country is already the sixth largest importer of U.S. soybeans. They also buy quite a bit of our beef. However, their concerns over ractopamine have led to restrictions against U.S. pork.
U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer says ractopamine is also a concern of China?s. It was included in the current trade negotiations with that country.
Ractopamine has been the key roadblock to any hope of a U.S./Taiwan free trade agreement. Congress and the White House have been working to garner more support for a deal despite the issues with pork, but U.S. Taiwan Business Council President Rupert Hammond-Chambers says U.S. policy on ractopamine?s been a ?dead end? for ten years.
Last year, Taiwan committed to buying $1.5 billion dollars worth of Midwest-grown soybeans over the next two years. This helps alleviate some of the strain of the trade war with China.
The group wraps up their visit on Thursday.
