Us pressure: "Beef issue is not clear. TIFA is not easy to talk about at the moment."

According to Taiwan media reports, US Deputy Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis told Taiwan officials on the 10th that he personally agreed that Taiwan and the United States should resume negotiations on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), but "the beef issue is not clear and TIFA is not easy to talk about at the moment."

According to Taiwan's United Daily News, Shi Yanxiang, Taiwan's "economy minister", attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Singapore and held bilateral talks with the United States on the afternoon of the 10th. Officials at the meeting said after the meeting that the US side linked TIFA to the beef issue, which "made us fully feel this."

According to the report, after the meeting lasted for more than 40 minutes, the two sides immediately got to the point, focusing almost on American beef. Although Malentis thanked the Taiwan authorities for their efforts in opening up American beef, he also said that "the US side is extremely worried about the situation in Taiwan (beef boycott)."

Shih Yan-hsiang explained to Malentis that Taiwan's "Congress" is about to amend the Food Hygiene Law on November 17, including several versions put forward by the ruling and opposition parties, ensuring that "we attach great importance to Taiwan-US relations and beef will honor its promises in accordance with the signed agreement."

As for the boycott launched by the people, Shi Yanxiang explained that this is a democratic social phenomenon and the government can only respect it. Marentis later mentioned that the USDA revised the quality system Assessment system (QSA) and did not boycott the export of bone beef to Taiwan.

Subsequently, Shi Yanxiang took the initiative to propose to Malentis, "since Taiwan is an important trading partner of the United States, many issues can be discussed by TIFA. Should Taiwan-US TIFA consultation be resumed?" Unexpectedly, Shi Yanxiang encountered a soft nail, Malentis made it clear that "the current beef issue is not clear."

Taiwan officials attending the meeting interpreted that "the US side just wants to wait for the beef to be resolved before talking about TIFA."

In addition, Shi Yanxiang also held talks with Singapore Minister of Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang on the 10th. Although the two sides did not touch on the issue of the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), Shi Yanxiang mentioned to Lim Hng Kiang that "cross-strait relations are amicable, and it is hoped that the Taiwan Star Economic and Trade Ministers' meeting can discuss more topics," suggesting that Taiwan Star can start talking about the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).