US Should Strengthen Trade With Taiwan, Mexico, Korea, Report Says

The U.S. should negotiate deals and strengthen trade with Mexico, Korea and Taiwan, a move that would substantially help U.S. exporters, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a June report. The report offers several policy recommendations for Congress and the Trump administration to boost exports, including: sign a U.S.-Taiwan trade agreement, pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, “reanimate” the Trade in Services Agreement, continue stifling Chinese “innovation mercantilism,” and ensure U.S. export controls don’t hinder exports to Taiwan, Mexico and Korea.

The report analyzes U.S. trade with the three countries across six industries: automobiles, chemicals, computers/electronics, machinery, transportation equipment and pharmaceuticals. The report said the U.S. economy is “deeply interlinked” with the economies of Mexico, Korea and Taiwan, saying U.S. exports of “inputs and intermediate goods” are vital to their industries. The U.S. should “liberalize” export controls to the three nations, the report argues, specifically as they relate to emerging technologies. The U.S. should update its controls for products with military and intelligence “applications,” should better determine whether the technology exports are a “final product, an intermediate product, a process, or intellectual property,” and should better analyze which countries subject to U.S. export controls can import the controlled technology by other means.