21 美國在兩岸關係的發展中，經常扮演著重要的角色。請問下列與美國兩岸政策相關的敘述，何者錯誤？
(A)根據 2019 年臺灣保證法案，美國國務院應鼓勵臺灣與美國官員之間的接觸
(B)根據臺灣關係法，提供防禦性的武器給臺灣人民，是美國的政策之一
(C)美國認可一個中國政策
(D)美國聯邦眾議院於 2019 年 3 月通過美臺雙邊貿易協定

2019年12月19日

161位眾議員支持台美洽簽雙邊貿易協定(BTA)聯名函

The Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer

U.S. Trade Representative

600 17th Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20508

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer：

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), landmark legislation that set the framework for relations between the United States and Taiwan – two countries with a shared commitment to democracy, respect for the rule of law, and free market principles. The TRA has facilitated decades of economic, security, and trade relations that have benefited the global community and increased the prosperity of the United States and Taiwan. With this in mind, we strongly believe you should work toward beginning negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan.

Taiwan is a longstanding ally and a like-minded partner in the Indo-Pacific region that upholds and shares our values. Taiwan is our 11th largest trading partner worldwide, the 8th largest export market for U.S. agricultural products, a major purchaser of U.S. LNG exports, and the supplier of a significant amount of the semiconductors used by our manufacturers in their finished goods. Taiwan already affords its workers a high standard of labor protection, consistent with International Labor Organization conventions, and is a leader in environmental protection in the region.

Taiwan has already expressed strong interest in negotiating a fair, reciprocal, and high-standard bilateral trade agreement with the United States. We believe an agreement with Taiwan would expand markets for American goods, including agricultural products, by addressing existing market access issues, and could serve as a high bar for future agreements with other governments in the region. Such an agreement would encourage more investment in American industries as Taiwan’s exports would provide inputs U.S. manufacturers need. It would also help establish comprehensive and high-standard rules for digital trade, ensuring both countries operate under the same standards and leading to the creation of high-paying jobs in the sector. As the trade and investment relationship with Taiwan already supports an estimated 373,000 U.S. jobs, working toward the negotiation of a high-standard and comprehensive U.S.-Taiwan bilateral trade agreement would further enhance our shared goal of enhancing the global competitiveness of U.S. industries while spurring American job creation.

Taiwan has proven itself as a loyal and beneficial partner of the United States for many years. For the last four decades, the cornerstones of this relationship have been set forth in the TRA and the Six Assurances. We strongly think that your continued work toward trade agreement negotiations would demonstrate our continued commitment to Taiwan, and the region as a whole, and will be consistent with the letter and spirit of the relations that have served the United States and Taiwan so well for the last forty years. We hope that you will consider these factors and continue to work toward this goal. As you do so, we anticipate frequent and robust consultations with Congress, including all committees of jurisdiction.

2020年10月1日

50位參議員支持台美洽簽雙邊貿易協定(BTA)聯名函

Ambassador Robert Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

600 17th Street NW

Washington, DC 20508

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer,

As we look to advance our initiative for a free and open Indo-Pacific, we believe that now is the time to establish trade agreements with like-minded countries in the region. Given their record as a longstanding economic partner and security ally, we highly encourage you to begin the formal process of negotiating a comprehensive trade agreement with Taiwan.

As our 11th largest trading partner, with $76 billion in total goods exchanged during 2018 and $18.5 billion of trade in services, Taiwan has demonstrated their capacity to hold a strong economic partnership with the United States. Along with a robust trading profile of goods and services, Taiwan supports an estimated 208,000 American jobs - a number that will only increase with a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement.

In addition to supplementing U.S. goods and services, Taiwan is a reliable partner in many of our industries. This is not only critical for diversifying our supply chains, but essential to reducing our reliance on other countries such as China who seek to leverage supply chain inefficiencies in their path to regional and global dominance. This diversification of our supply chain is critical to our national security.

While there are challenges to establishing an agreement with Taiwan, such as reaching an agreement on agricultural standards, we are confident that progress can be made. Taiwan has already taken steps to further these conversations by announcing their intent to lift their restrictions on U.S. pork and beef products. Once implemented, this change will greatly increase accessibility for our farmers and ranchers to do business in Taiwan, and in light of this important development, we should now substantively move forward on negotiations for a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan.

A free and open Indo-Pacific is a goal that we need to actively work towards by countering China's use of unfair trading practices and other policies to advance its economic dominance in the region. An agreement with Taiwan would help us accomplish this goal by building a network of like-minded governments dedicated to fair competition and open markets free from government manipulation and would serve as a signal to other nations that Taiwan is a viable partner that is open for business.

We are confident that a U.S.-Taiwan trade agreement would promote security and economic growth for the United States, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific as a whole. We urge the administration to prioritize a comprehensive trade agreement with Taiwan, and we look forward to working with you to secure this framework.