MORE THAN PORK:The US stance on issues such as acceptable levels of the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine in pork is based on scientific standards, a US advisor said

Taipei Times
Date: May 06, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwan should not lose sight of the big picture in its trade relations with the US, as US pork imports are only one of the many trade matters being discussed between the two sides, a US Department of State official said on Tuesday.

“We can talk about the pork issue in more detail, but we also want to make sure that we’re focused on the overall economic relationship, which is so key to people in both of our economies,” US principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton said in an interview.

Noting that Taiwan is the US’ ninth-largest trading partner and its seventh-largest market for agricultural products, Thornton said the two sides are discussing a wide range of issues under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

These issues, for instance, include increasing trade and encouraging Taiwanese investments in the US, she said.

What Taiwan and the US are discussing under the TIFA would also “be a kind of a stepping stone to things that would need to be done by Taiwan in order to qualify itself for entry into TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership],” Thornton added.     [FULL  STORY]