US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI4686

C O N F I D E N T I A L TAIPEI 004686 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC AND EB/TPP, STATE PASS AIT/W AND USTR, 
USTR FOR WINELAND AND WINTERS, USDOC FOR 
4431/ITA/MAC/AP/OPB/TAIWAN/MBMORGAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2015 
TAGS: ETRD, EAGR, TW, Trade 
SUBJECT: MOEA DM CHEN RESPONDS TO DOHA DEMARCHE, BEEF, TYCO 
AND COKE 
 
REF: STATE 211956 
 
Classified By: AIT Director Douglas Paal, reason 1.4 b/d 
 
 1.  (C) Econ Chief delivered reftel points to Ministry of 
Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Steve Chen (Ruey-long).  He 
took the occassion to raise Taiwan's continued ban on U.S. 
beef, the status of Tyco thermistor cases, Taiwan's opening 
to some types of chocolate imports from China and proposed 
labeling requirements for caffeinated beverages.  Chen 
responded that Taiwan was very aggressive on opening to 
services and although had reservations about some 
Non-agricultural market access (NAMA) proposals, would do its 
best to go along.  He noted that subjecting all NAMA products 
to the Swiss formula made it difficult for Taiwan in some 
sensitive areas.  As a newly acceded member, Chen pressed for 
a special timeline for implementing any new commitments.  He 
passed the buck to the Council of Agriculture (COA) on 
Taiwan's agricultural market access policy, offering that COA 
could see the momentum for agricultural liberalization but 
needed more time to prepare.  Chen volunteered that Taiwan 
was still engaged in serious internal discussions and would 
probably not have a detailed position before December 12. 
 
2.  (C) AIT Econ Chief noted that Japan was likely to open 
its market to U.S. beef soon and that Taiwan's continued 
reluctance to do so was a sore point in our trade 
relationship.  Chen responded that Japan was an important 
indicator for Taiwan and speculated that the Department of 
Health was being extra cautious after it had been heavily 
criticized for re-opening to U.S. beef in April, only to have 
to close again when another BSE case was reported.  He opined 
that Taiwan would be quick to follow Japan's lead and re-open 
the market soon. 
 
3.  (C) In response to questions about how to best approach 
Taiwan Customs about cases regarding Tyco thermistor 
classification that had been referred to the judiciary for 
decision, Chen offered that some in Taiwan Customs were very 
unhappy about the reclassification of thermistors and implied 
that the Customs decision to refer these cases to the courts 
was a means of expressing their displeasure.  He offered to 
continue to discuss the cases with Taiwan Customs Director 
General Yu Shao-wu to see if there was still a way to reach a 
negotiated settlement. 
 
4.  (U) AIT Econ Chief thanked Chen for his message that 
Taiwan would open its market to some types of unfilled 
chocolate imports from China and noted that there was a 
proposal to require health warnings on labels of some 
caffeinated beverages that could have a negative impact on 
Coca-cola or other soft drinks.  Chen was not familiar with 
the proposed regulations but volunteered to check with the 
Department of Health. 
Paal