July 10, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 9,1424

TAIPEI, July 9: The United States has suspended the exchange of visits by high-ranking economic and trade officials with Taiwan since early this year over Taipei’s failure to remove major US-Taiwan trade barriers, it was reported here on Wednesday.

“The administration of President George W. Bush strongly felt that Taipei lacked the interest and sincerity to resolve bilateral economic and trade differences and decided to suspend exchange of visits,” the United Daily News reported.

Washington issued an order early this year to halt visits to the island by trade officials of deputy assistant secretary level and higher, it said.

“This restriction will not be lifted until Taiwan takes concrete steps to improve major bilateral economic and trade conditions... not to mention the signing of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA),” the paper quoted an unnamed Washington official as saying.

As a consequence, Taiwan’s economic minister Lin Yi-fu was forced to cancel a planned visit to Washington in May and June after being informed that US Commerce Secretary Don Evans would not meet him, it said.

The American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy here, declined to comment on the report, but said there was “a broad commercial agenda” with Taiwan.

“AIT has in the past called attention to the need for better protection of IPR and effective implementation of Taiwan’s commitments under the WTO (World Trade Organization), including rice imports and fair and unimpeded access for US pharmaceuticals,” said AIT spokeswoman Judith Mudd-Krijgelmans.

The US last year sent several high-ranking trade officials including Under Secretary for International Trade Grant Aldonas and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance William H. Lash III to Taiwan to tackle issues such as intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, pricing of pharmaceuticals and rice exports to the island.

But the negotiations with Taiwan were described by the US as “full of frustration,” according to the paper.

IPR violations in Taiwan, which reportedly cost United States businesses some $757 million in losses in 2002, has long been a major trade issue between the two sides.

Vice economic minister Chen Ruey-long on Wednesday said negotiations on ways to sort out differences between the two sides were still going on.

“We already understood the US’ views on the issues last year. But it takes time to solve a lot of the problems, and we will continue to communicate with the US,” Chen told reporters.

Taiwan’s cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung, meanwhile, said Taipei had maintained smooth communication with Washington and that the gap between the two sides was narrowing after Taiwan toughened its copyright law.

To demonstrate its efforts to crackdown on infringement, Taiwan’s parliament amended the copyright law in June to impose heavier penalties on violators.

In May the US Trade Representative placed the island on a special watchlist of countries where intellectual property rights were inadequately protected for a third straight year.—AFP