00:00Taiwan has responded to U.S. investigations into its trade practices ahead of public hearings
00:06on them.
00:07The U.S. opened the two Section 301 probes last month.
00:11One looks into Taiwan's large trade surplus with the U.S., while the other is focused
00:16on imports of goods made with forced labor.
00:19Taipei says its surplus comes from its complementary trade ties with the U.S., pointing to the
00:24two countries' tech industries.
00:26And it says it's working with businesses to uphold international human rights standards
00:30on imports.
00:31Taiwan is hoping to maintain trade and investment agreements it signed with Washington earlier
00:36this year.
00:38For more on the government's response to these U.S. trade probes, our reporter Ai Qi spoke
00:43with John Deng, Taiwan's former trade representative.
00:47The U.S. trade representative opened the Section 301 investigations in March.
00:51So what motivation might Taiwan have in providing its response now?
00:56So Taiwan government thinks this is a channel that we can use, present our side of stories,
01:08our side of arguments, so that they take advantage of this option, provide additional information
01:16that might be useful for the U.S. government.
01:20The U.S. now is the largest export market of Taiwan products.
01:28So we have to treat this investigation in a very serious manner.
01:34How far do you think this response will go in persuading the U.S. to refrain from penalizing
01:39Taiwan?
01:39It's difficult to say.
01:42It is up to U.S. government.
01:44When you receive this information from Taiwan's side, they then have to decide whether the facts
01:58and the argument presented by Taiwan government is persuasive enough for them to decide that
02:11Taiwan is not engaged in unfair trade practice.
02:14Taiwan has agreed to do many, many measures to open up Taiwan's market and to change our regulations
02:30to meet the U.S. demands.
02:34How might the investigations impact the trade investment deals Taiwan recently signed with the U.S.?
02:41President Trump and his senior officials.
02:46My reading and my sense is they want, they also want to keep the agreement.
02:52After reading this trade agreement, you will be surprised how comprehensive.
02:58It is a very, very detailed agreement.
03:03It almost cover all those so-called trade barriers that over the years, that USTR collected from
03:17the U.S. private industries.
03:19So it is a very comprehensive.
03:23It served the interest of the U.S. business.
03:27It also almost solved the trade tensions between U.S. and Taiwan.
03:37That was Taiwan's former trade representative, John Deng.
03:41In
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