WASHINGTON — The United States will wait to see how Taiwan implements the lifting of a ban on U.S. beef imports before deciding whether to resume trade talks, a senior official said Wednesday.
Two weeks ago Taiwan’s legislature passed a bill allowing Taiwanese to import U.S. beef containing minimal traces of ractopamine, a feed additive for creating lean meat.
The ban was the main obstruction to resumption of talks on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement that were suspended in 2007.
Taiwan hopes talks could pave the way for a free trade pact with Washington, although such a step could anger China, which regards self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory.
