BTA talks possible within one to two years: officialBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe lifting of a ban on imports of pork products containing traces of ractopamine is a step in initiating talks on a potential bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday. “Why has the US Trade Representative not yet initiated talks?” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) asked. Without the lifting of the ban, there would have been little hope of furthering Taiwan-US trade ties, Wang said. She added that members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership allow the import of pork and beef containing ractopamine. “We can buy more corn, wheat and soybeans from the US, as well as natural gas” to help expedite trade talks, she said.

Source: Taipei Times October 22, 2020 15:56 UTC