Taiwan’s top trade negotiator John Deng (???) on Wednesday dismissed concerns that an initiative jointly launched by Taiwan and the United States to boost their bilateral economic and trade relationship will result in the hollowing-out of the country’s semiconductor industry.

The strength of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry has been built on the country’s educated workforce, intellectual property regime and government-led efforts dedicated to developing the industry, Deng said.

Although Taiwan’s semiconductor sector is the envy of the world, there is zero chance that the industry could be hollowed out and relocated to the U.S. through negotiations under the “U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade,” Deng said in a radio interview.

Deng was responding to comments by Sean Chen (??), who served as premier from 2012-2013 in the then Kuomintang (KMT) administration, that the U.S. has embarked on the initiative with the aim of luring Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to the U.S. for the benefit of American workers.

The “U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade” was announced on June 1 to develop a roadmap for negotiations on economic and trade agreements with high-standard commitments, according to statements from both sides.

Deng said the two sides will focus on setting up regulatory frameworks covering labor and environmental standards, customs clearance, and others areas, to ensure fair competition in the market, protect workers on both sides, reduce carbon emissions and facilitate industrial development.

The initiative came in the wake of Taiwan’s exclusion from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which is led by the U.S. and currently has 14 member nations in the region, and is touted by the government of Taiwan as a prelude to a bilateral trade agreement.

Many countries are interested in deepening their economic and trade relationship with Taiwan, but they have some concerns, said Deng, likely referring to possible reactions from China.

“If the initiative works well, other countries will follow suit,” Deng said.

Meanwhile, Deng, who serves as Minister Without Portfolio, said that he will lead a delegation to the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), of which Taiwan is a member.

The 12th Ministerial Conference, scheduled to take place on June 12-15 in Geneva, will mainly focus on patent protections for vaccines, fisheries subsidies and reform of the WTO in a bid to build a rules-based multilateral trading system to address China’s unfair trade practices, Deng said.

Deng said he will also hold bilateral talks with delegations from other countries on the sidelines of the WTO meetings.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel