Beyond Non-Recognition: U.S.-Taiwan Trade Agreements in Indo-Pacific Dynamics

At the core of U.S.-China tensions and the Indo-Pacific strategy, the evolving legal frameworks that govern U.S.-Taiwan relations present legal intricacies under American and international law. This Article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the groundbreaking U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, the only congressionally approved trade agreement during the Biden Administration. It argues that within the space of non-recognition, the United States has accorded Taiwan diverse and incremental forms of legal recognition, which culminated in the Initiative and its Implementation Act. Through an interdisciplinary lens, this Article develops a theoretical framework that bridges recognition theories under international law and international relations. It challenges the doctrinal legal understanding by demonstrating the coexistence between systematic legal recognition and non-recognition of statehood. From the Roosevelt to Trump 2.0 Administrations, U.S. statutes and agreements focusing on Taiwan reinforce this trend and reflect the pivotal shift to integrate the One-China policy into the broader Indo-Pacific strategy. Although the Initiative does not qualify as a free trade agreement under domestic or World Trade Organization law, it could be construed as a treaty leading to implied recognition. More profoundly, this Article unveils critical constitutional and foreign relations law complexities concerning congressional and executive authority over new-style trade pacts. The key elements of the agreement, ranging from trade facilitation to labor rights, also highlight priority areas of U.S. trade negotiations. Consequently, the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of these legal mechanisms within geopolitical dynamics offers valuable insights for the new “America First” policy and the future of global trade.