Taiwan Still Waiting To Join CPTPP Four Years After Applying

TaiwanPlus News

Four years after Taiwan applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, members have still not reached the unanimous consensus needed to form an Accession Working Group. Taiwan submitted its application mere days after China did, complicating the politics, and some members of the pact fear retaliation if they back Taipei. We speak to experts and Taiwan's former lead trade negotiator John Deng about Taipei's application and the prospects for its future.

Transcript

00:00Taiwan is still waiting to join a regional free trade pact known as the Comprehensive

00:06and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. It applied four years

00:11ago on Monday, just six days after China made its own surprise bid to join. CPTPP members make up

00:18about 15% of the global economy and account for roughly a quarter of Taiwan's total trade.

00:24Taiwan's lead trade negotiator at the time explained the urgency of applying

00:29under the name Taiwan uses at the WTO.

00:52Four years later, John Deng says none of the other member countries seem to know that China would

00:58apply and that Taiwan had been told to wait.

01:00Prior to our submission, we follow all the rules, that is, we consult with other members.

01:10That consultation process went on for some time. They advised us to hold until they gave us

01:19further signal.

01:21China claims Taiwan as its territory, and, as with all international agreements, objects

01:27to Taiwan's participation in the CPTPP.

01:30The Pacific trade deal has been rocky from the start. It began as the Trans-Pacific Partnership,

01:52or TPP, championed by the U.S. under then-President Barack Obama as a counterweight to China's regional

01:58influence and way of doing business.

02:01We believe in fair competition, which is why TPP is the first trade agreement to level the

02:06playing field between private firms and state-owned enterprises.

02:10However, amid public opposition to free trade PACs at home, a newly inaugurated Donald Trump withdrew

02:20from the deal in 2017 as one of his first acts as president. The PAC's remaining members quickly

02:26sought to revive the deal under a new name, signing the agreement in 2018. And it has continued to expand.

02:32The bloc began with its original 11 member countries in the Pacific. In 2024, the UK became the first

02:40and only new member to successfully join. The near-simultaneous applications of Taiwan and China were

02:46followed by several other countries, such as Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ecuador, Ukraine, and Indonesia.

02:53The first step to joining the pact is the formation of a so-called Ascension Working Group, which requires

02:58consensus from all members. Although Taiwan and China's applications came earliest, Costa Rica is

03:04the only country to currently have a working group.

03:06We are quite confident that no country block Taiwan. It's just procedurally, the consensus

03:17apparently has not been reached yet.

03:22Some believe it may be difficult for members to reach consensus.

03:25Some of the CPTVP members have a very close relationship with mainland China. If those

03:32CPTVP members, you know, support Taiwan's application of the CPTVP, they may incur the retaliation

03:42from mainland China, either economically or politically.

03:46And beyond political problems, Taiwan may still need to address certain aspects of its market

03:51access to join the deal.

03:53Taiwan, we still have a few things to do. For example, we still have some very high-level

03:58product, for example, our agricultural sector, or some very few items in the industrial sector,

04:04for example, the automobile. Also, in the service sector, we may have to further liberalize our

04:09telecommunication sector and so on. But for all the things I just mentioned, I think Taiwan

04:15can, you know, can achieve that.

04:17The CPTPP Commission is currently chaired by Australia, with Vietnam taking over next year.

04:23In a statement to Taiwan Plus, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said

04:27that all decisions are made by consensus among the 12 CPTPP members. Taiwan's Office of Trade

04:33Negotiations told Taiwan Plus it's still seeking support from member countries and is calling on

04:38them to establish a working group for Taiwan as soon as possible without political considerations.

04:43And those like John Deng are still hopeful.

04:46I can very comfortably tell all the audience that Taiwan certainly can meet this high standard

04:54and good compliance record. It is very clear that Taiwan, since we joined WTO 20-some years ago,

05:07that we didn't have any trade dispute with any countries. I think CPTPP, we have very high hope

05:17on them, and we want to be part of that and to continue to contribute.

05:26Four years on, Taiwan says it can meet the rules to join the CPTPP. At the next commission meeting

05:32planned later this year, it will find out if the other members agree.

05:36Lee Sin Chun and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.

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