"On Monday, August 7, 2023, the President signed into law: H.R. 4004, the 'United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act,' which approves the June 1, 2023, trade agreement between the United States and Taiwan, under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States," the White House said in a press release.
The US House Ways and Means Committee also issued a release stating the agreement sets rules in five areas of bilateral trade: customs administration and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, services regulation, anti-corruption and small and medium-sized businesses.
At present, Taiwan is the United States’ ninth largest trading partner with $90.6 billion in total traded goods in 2020, according to US Trade Representative Office data.
The measure fully cleared Congress a month after initially being introduced in June, and is considered to be the first of several deals expected to be processed under the trade initiative.
The latest comes as the Biden White House cleared up to $345 million in defense aid to Taiwan in addition to the military equipment and sales previously approved, an agreement that earlier drew Beijing's ire
The US' continued ties with Taiwan has been repeatedly blasted by China, which has long considered the self-governing island as its province. Beijing has time and again urged the US to steer clear of taking any steps to involve itself in China's domestic matters.