High-tech industry: US official promotes Taiwan trade

OHIO FORUM:
Rick Waters said improved trade relations would boost supply chain resiliency, while like-minded partners are needed in the face of authoritarianism

• By Lu Yi-hsuan
  and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Washington’s top Taiwan affairs official last week affirmed Taiwan’s “leading role” in the global high-tech industry during a forum on bilateral business collaboration.

Continued development of trade relations between Taiwan and the US would strengthen supply chain resiliency in response to the Chinese economic threat, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for China, Taiwan and Mongolia Rick Waters said in a recorded address in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday.

Waters was speaking at the Taiwan-US Business Roundtable Forum in the Midwest, held for the first time in Ohio.

Photo: Still frame grab from the recorded speech

Themed “Innovation and High-tech Global Supply Chains,” this year’s edition of the forum was jointly organized by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, JobsOhio, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Taiwan Trade Center of Chicago.

Considering Ohio’s importance in manufacturing and the automobile industry, participants in the two panels discussed high-tech supply chains and how to enhance economic partnerships on innovative technologies such as chip design and electric vehicles.

In attendance were Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴); Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted; US Representative Steve Chabot, who is a founding cochair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus; Ohio Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer Steve Stivers; and a variety of business representatives.

Standing in for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Waters hailed recent developments in Taiwan-US trade cooperation, including the second Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue held in November last year and the resumption of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks.

Especially in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the need for like-minded partners such as Taiwan and the US to work together to address the dangers of authoritarianism is greater than ever, he said.

In his address, Stivers brought up Intel’s planned US$20 billion investment to make Ohio a regional hub for semiconductor manufacturing, a sector in which Taiwan is a top player.

Nations with similar ideals should work together to create mutual economic and technological benefits, he said, while other speakers called for Taiwan’s inclusion in the US’ proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.