Recently, and for the first time in Belizean history, sugar has been officially exported to Taiwan. 20 metric tons packaged in 25kg bags of Demerara light (brown) direct consumption sugar will arrive in Taiwan’s ports, marking a significant milestone in Belize’s trade policy. 

Belize and Taiwan

2019 marked the celebration of 30 years of diplomatic relations between Belize and the small island state of Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China (Taiwan). Taiwan has, through its bilateral cooperation initiatives, contributed significantly to Belize’s development and is seen as one of Belize’s closest allies. In the global contact of Taiwan’s waning support in the western hemisphere as many developing countries cut diplomatic ties in favor of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Belize is one of the few remaining allies for Taiwan in the region. Taiwan is not a large trading partner, but there has been a concentrated effort of successive governments to increase trade relations between the two countries. 

Belize-Taiwan Economic Cooperation Agreement 

In 2020 Belize and Taiwan signed the Economic Cooperation Agreement to increase trade between the two countries. The agreement provided preferential treatment to be given to Belizean exports such as fisheries and agricultural products and Taiwanese products such as machinery and industrial equipment. The agreement also looked at areas such as Customs cooperation, trade facilitation and bilateral cooperation.

 The agreement officially took effect in 2022 with a reduction of tariffs on certain goods. The agreement’s focus on fisheries and agricultural products led to significant increases in the exportation of Lobster in 2022 (USD $3 million) compared to 2021 which only saw trade in lobster valued at USD $0.78 million. Despite this noticeable increase, the volume of export trade with Taiwan has not increased enough to put the island state as a strong trading partner.

Nevertheless, the Belize-Taiwan ECA has been regarded as a crucial milestone of Belize’s continued bilateral cooperation with Taiwan and a model for how Belize should conduct its trade policy with larger economies. 

Belize’s first shipment 

The ECA provides for the preferential treatment of Belizean sugar imported by Taiwan. The agreement allows for 35,000 metric tons of sugar to be imported tariff free from Belize (25,000 mt of raw sugar and 10,000 of direct consumption). While in comparison with the larger importers of Belize’s sugar (the United Kingdom) the 35,000 mt provided for in the ECA may not seem like huge gains for the sugar industry, it is important to ensure that Belize’s largest export product continues to find markets.