TAIPEI (TVBS News) — More than 3,000 agricultural and industrial products from the Marshall Islands will now enter Taiwan duty-free, as the Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA) between the nations officially come into effect Wednesday (Jan. 15).
Taiwan and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (馬紹爾群島共和國) have taken a significant step in their bilateral relations with the ECA covering trade, services, investment, technology, personnel exchanges, and tourism, promises to deepen economic ties between the two nations.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA, 經濟部) announced that Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), then-Taiwan's foreign minister, and John M. Silk, the Marshall Islands' minister of foreign affairs and trade, signed the ECA on Oct. 25, 2019, and later revised the tariff reduction list and rules of origin on Oct. 5, 2022.
In 2024, trade between Taiwan and the Marshall Islands reached US$133.91 million, reflecting the potential for further cooperation. The ECA immediately reduced tariffs to zero on Taiwan's list of 3,043 agricultural and industrial products and the Marshall Islands' list of 267 agricultural and fishery products.
