TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it is planning a trade visit to Taiwan in April, which will be headed by the chief of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FSA).
FSA Chief, Ken Isley, will be in Taiwan April 22-24, to discuss issues related to US pork and beef imports with Taiwan’ Ministry of Agriculture, it was announced on Feb. 19.
The announcement may be good news indicating a possible new start to negotiations for a U.S.–Taiwan Free Trade Agreement, which many in Taiwan and the U.S. have been calling for recently.
Following the announcement, Legislative Yuan member Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) asked Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) if the U.S. and Taiwan had come to a new agreement on the issue. Su replied that “No decision has been made at this time,” reports LTN.
The trade visit by the USDA, which will be the first of its kind, was originally planned for March 11-14, however due to the recent month-long partial shutdown of the U.S. government over December-January, the visit was postponed to April.
