New Bloom (Taipei) — The Tsai Ing-wen administration surprised last week with the announcement that it intended to open Taiwan up to beef and pork imports from the United States. This move is clearly aimed at removing one of the major political hurdles to a bilateral trade agreement with Washington, which had made this a precondition for a bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan for well over a decade.

Taiwan has long sought a bilateral trade agreement with the United States. More generally, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) political administrations in Taiwan have sought closer economic ties as a means of cementing US political interests in Taiwan. This has included seeking entrance to economic bodies of which the United States is a member, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership before the Trump administration’s abrupt withdrawal from the agreement on his first day in office.

It is also surprising that the Tsai administration decided to make the move at this political juncture. US pork and beef imports have proven a contested political issue in Taiwan in the past, not only due to consumer fears regarding the safety of these foods, but because of pressure from domestic industrial and farmer groups.

US beef and pork uses the growth hormone ractopamine, the use of which is permitted in the United States but banned in Taiwan. 160 of the world’s 200 or so countries have not approved its use, raising questions about its safety. As such, there have been long-standing concerns regarding the safety of ractopamine-treated beef in Taiwan.

Opening Taiwan to imports has also raised questions as to whether Taiwan will now permit the use of ractopamine. Public health officials such as Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung and a National Cheng Kung University study have emphasized the relative safety of the hormone, though the Tsai administration has not indicated that it intends to lift the current domestic ractopamine ban.

Taiwan has also agreed to allow for imports of beef from cows over thirty months old, though the media has not focused on this issue.

There could very well be protests from domestic farmers in the coming weeks. Historically speaking, domestic farmers are among those that have been most heavily affected by Taiwan’s entrance into multinational free trade agreements or trade bodies such as the World Trade Organization. In June, the Taiwanese agricultural industry achieved the status of being free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination, allowing exports for Taiwanese pork to restart for the first time in 24 years.

The American Institute in Taiwan has been attempting to demonstrate the safety of US beef and pork over the course of many years, highlighting how the US government is deeply beholden to large and powerful corporations, something that overrides security concerns vis-a-vis Taiwan.

The ultimate results, of course, can be unsafe food products being foisted onto American and Taiwanese consumers by unaccountable corporate interests—although one notes Taiwan’s has it own continual scandals regarding food adulteration.

For its part, the Tsai administration has stated that allowing for US pork and beef imports does not mean that it will be the only alternative in Taiwan, and that consumers will be free to make their own choices regarding their purchases.

The Nationalist Party (KMT) has sought to target the Tsai administration with the claim that it is endangering food safety in Taiwan for the sake of economic ties with the United States, announcing plans to hold a referendum on the matter. The KMT has generally aimed to depict the Tsai administration as leaning too heavily in the direction of reliance on Washington, including the claim that the Tsai administration’s US arms purchases are expensive and wasteful, and that its emphasis on developing such ties is unnecessarily provocative of China.

Nevertheless, former President Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT previously sought to open Taiwan to US beef imports during his first presidential term from 2008 to 2012. It was a significant public backlash that caused him to call off the move. During the KMT’s period in power, it was actually the DPP—including Tsai—that attacked the KMT for being willing to allow US beef and pork imports.

The parties have now swapped positions on the issue between when they were in power versus when out of it. Tsai indicated as early as 2016 that she might be open to a different position on ractopamine, justifying her shift through the claim that, since 2010, there have been new studies showing that the hormone is comparatively safe.

Given the potential for controversy, Tsai reportedly did not inform her own party caucus until immediately before she announced the decision, informing DPP legislators at a luncheon. Though the DPP has hit back against the KMT for politicizing the issue of food safety, it remains to be seen whether or not Tsai will be able to prevent her own party members from breaking ranks over the issue, as occurred with the KMT under Ma.

On the other hand, there has already been some pay-off for the Tsai administration in terms of strengthening ties with the United States. The US State Department has announced that it will be establishing an Economic and Commercial Dialogue with Taiwan going forward. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, this dialogue will be held before the end of the year. The American government’s declassification of diplomatic cables with Taiwan regarding its arms sales to Taiwan and the Six Assurances after Tsai’s announcement has been seen as a move toward transparency intended to pave the way for a trade deal.

But, as with the Ma administration before it, it is possible that public backlash and pressure from the domestic pork and beef industry may halt this initiative. Tsai is likely gambling on the fact that she is currently serving her second term in office and will not be up for reelection, as well as the fact that she is enjoying high popularity due to her administration’s successful handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This article was originally published in New Bloom.

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