TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. Congress is taking concrete measures to deepen economic ties with Taiwan, the visiting Congressional Taiwan Caucus delegation told Taiwan News on Thursday (Jan. 25).

“Certainly you’re seeing increased conversations,” Congressional Taiwan Caucus co-chair Ami Bera said. Congress is pushing the Biden administration on the trade front, he said.

Though Bera could not comment on Taiwan’s inclusion in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), he said, “I do think on some of these pillars of trade of normalization, you are seeing movement in the Biden administration.”

Double tax avoidance legislation had bipartisan support and was making its way through Congress, Bera said. If passed, this would be good for Taiwan’s companies, and both the local and U.S. economies. 

Co-chair Mario Diaz-Balart said Congress had also taken other steps to enhance Taiwan relations. This includes a House appropriation bill that designated US$500,000 for Taiwan’s defense for the first time, Diaz-Balart said.

“It just shows you the fact that Taiwan is not on the back burner,” he said, adding, “It is in our thoughts and Congress has been very aggressive in a very positive way.” More concrete actions from Congress will be “taking place in the very, very near future,” he said.

In his opening remarks, Diaz-Balart called Taiwan “a beacon of hope and of light, and of freedom and of democracy.” Bera said congressional support for Taiwan symbolized “seeking peace, prosperity, and the right to your own future.”

“We’re not changing the status quo but we have to respond to external pressures and others that potentially are changing that status quo,” he added.

Earlier on Thursday, the delegation met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and President and Vice Presidents-elects Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).