Trade and Investment

The United States has maintained and enhanced its commercial ties with Taiwan since 1979. Taiwan is the United States’ tenth largest trading partner[1], and the United States is Taiwan’s second largest trading partner. Taiwan enjoys Export-Import Bank financing, Overseas Private Investment Corporation guarantees, normal trade relations status, and ready access to U.S. markets. AIT has been engaged in a series of trade discussions that have focused on protection of intellectual property rights and market access for U.S. goods and services. The United States has a trade and investment framework agreement with Taiwan under the auspices of AIT and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United States. As of 2013, companies from Taiwan employed more than 12,000 workers in the United States with total worker compensation of almost a billion dollars.

Travel and Visa Programs

Travels between the United States and Taiwan continues to grow. There are now 153 sister cities between the United States and Taiwan[2], connecting our two societies on a local level. Travel for business and pleasure from Taiwan to the United States has increased 50 percent since Taiwan became a member of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program in November 2012. Taiwan is the United States’ seventh largest source of international students, sending thousands of students to receive a high-quality education each year. The United States also sponsors study abroad opportunities in Taiwan for U.S. students from the high school to postgraduate levels. Outside of the traditional classroom, through the Fulbright Program and the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), young professionals and rising scholars from the United States and Taiwan collaborate on research and exchange best practices on a broad range of topics.

International Community

The United States supports Taiwan’s membership in international organizations that do not require statehood as a condition of membership and encourages Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations where its membership is not possible. Taiwan and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the World Trade Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the Asian Development Bank. In June 2015, AIT and TECRO established the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, a platform for expanding U.S.-Taiwan cooperation on global and regional issues such as public health, economic development, energy, women’s rights, and disaster relief.

Source: https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35855.htm

• [1]: March 2017 Data from Census Bureau https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1703yr.html
• [2]: http://www.ustaiwanconnect.org/US-Taiwan-Relations/Sister-Cities/List-of-Sister-Cities