U.S.-Taiwan Trade Initiative Negotiating Mandate Released

Yesterday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a "negotiating mandate" for the "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade." The press release from the Office of Trade Negotiation under Taiwan's Executive Yuan noted that both Taiwan and the United States "have shown a high degree of ambition and look forward to achieving concrete results as soon as possible and signing a trade agreement"; and USTR's press release states that "[i]t is expected that the first round of negotiations will take place early this fall."