Louisiana 2022 2022 Regular Session

Louisiana Senate Bill SCR58 Introduced / Bill

                    SLS 22RS-2052	ORIGINAL
2022 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 58
BY SENATOR PEACOCK 
ECONOMIC DEVELOP DEPT.  To encourage further economic ties and friendship
between the state of Louisiana and the Republic of China (Taiwan).
1	A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To express support for the strengthening of the partnership with Taiwan and for the
3 expansion of Taiwan's role on the global stage.
4 WHEREAS, the longstanding bonds of friendship between the United States and
5 Taiwan, embodied in the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, continue to yield important
6 economic, strategic, and cultural benefits; and
7 WHEREAS, Taiwan ranks as our nation's eighth largest trading partner, and in 2020,
8 bilateral trade in goods and services reached $106 billion; and
9 WHEREAS, Taiwan ranks as the seventh largest export market for United States
10 agricultural products and is a particularly important market for Louisiana farmers; and
11 WHEREAS, Taiwan's biennial agricultural trade goodwill missions result in
12 multibillion-dollar supply deals and Taiwan annually dispatches delegations to the
13 SelectUSA Investment Summit to boost investments; and
14 WHEREAS, Taiwan's recent action to lift restrictions on United States beef and pork
15 beginning January 2021 will serve to enhance bilateral trade; and
16 WHEREAS, the robust trade and investment partnership between the United States
17 and Taiwan provides a solid foundation for a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement
18 to spur job creation, further expand the global market, and secure international supply
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SLS 22RS-2052	ORIGINAL
1 chains; and
2 WHEREAS, Taiwan is well positioned to play an important role augmenting the
3 revitalization of the global supply chain as part of the post pandemic economic recovery; and
4 WHEREAS, Taiwan is committed to helping address global challenges, from
5 humanitarian crises to nontraditional security threats; and
6 WHEREAS, this year Taiwan has emerged as an important partner in pandemic
7 prevention, providing more than fifty-five million surgical masks and other personal
8 protective equipment to more than eighty countries around the world, and has achieved
9 world renowned accolades for its effective pandemic prevention and containment, bolstering
10 unprecedented international support for Taiwan's response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
11 WHEREAS, Taiwanese officials and civil society groups partner with the United
12 States on a range of issues to promote our common values of freedom, democracy, and
13 human rights and Taiwan joined with the United States to establish the Partnership against
14 COVID-19, building on the cooperative tradition of prior joint partnerships such as the
15 Global Cooperation and Training Framework, which advances Taiwanese leadership in such
16 arenas as democratization, human rights, women's empowerment, and public health; and
17 WHEREAS, this year marks the thirty-seventh anniversary of the sister state
18 relationship between Louisiana and Taiwan and is a bond nurtured through mutually
19 beneficial exchanges; and
20 WHEREAS, Taiwan is Louisiana's eighth largest trading partner in Asia and, in
21 2020, Taiwan imported nearly $390 million in commodities from Louisiana and in turn,
22 Louisiana imported $132 million in Taiwanese goods; and
23 WHEREAS, Louisiana and the United States have benefitted immeasurably through
24 decades of an unwavering friendship with Taiwan and the wider world is sure to reap
25 tremendous rewards as Taiwan works to enhance its presence in the international
26 community.
27 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
28 express its support for the strengthening of the partnership with Taiwan and for the
29 expansion of Taiwan's role on the global stage.
30 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby do all
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SLS 22RS-2052	ORIGINAL
1 of the following:
2 (1) Express support for a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and
3 Taiwan.
4 (2) Expresses support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in international
5 organizations with the United States.
6 (3) Expresses support for Louisiana to establish a partnership with Taiwan through
7 the National Guard State Partnership program to build on our decades of mutually beneficial
8 relations.
9 (4) Celebrate the forty-third anniversary of the enactment of the Taiwan Relations
10 Act and the thirty-seventh anniversary of the sister state relationship between the state of
11 Louisiana and Taiwan.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
13 Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, Texas.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Carla S. Roberts.
DIGEST
SCR 58 Original 2022 Regular Session	Peacock
Expresses support for trade agreements between the United States and Taiwan, Taiwan's
participation in certain international organizations, celebrates the anniversary of the federal
Taiwan Relations Act, and the sister state relationship between Taiwan and Louisiana.
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