On July 15, 2009 Taiwan officially joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). This established Taiwan, officially Chinese Taipei, as a designated end country under the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). On August 11, 2009 the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) were amended to include Taiwan in the list of approved countries under the TAA (ref: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-19164.pdf).

The Trade Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 2501, et seq.) is the enabling statue that implements numerous multilateral and bilateral international trade agreements and other trade initiatives. The TAA essentially provides that the government may acquire only "U.S.-made or designated country end products" when the value of the purchase exceeds the designated dollar thresholds. The Act requires contractors to certify that each end product meets the applicable requirements.

The TAA essentially requires that end products from designated countries be treated the same as U.S.-made products for government procurement purposes, and prohibits the acquisition of end products from other, non-designated countries. Since the estimated dollar value of each GSA Schedule exceeds the established Trade Agreements Act (TAA) threshold, the TAA is applicable to all Schedules. In accordance with the TAA, only U.S.-made or designated country end products can be offered and sold under Schedule contracts. Previously Taiwan was excluded, along with China, India, Malaysia, and Thailand, who still are not "designated countries" within the definition of the TAA.

GSA is now processing modifications and new offers for items that are made or "substantially transformed" in Taiwan.

Things to Do Now:

• Make sure you have a GSA Schedule contract.
• Review the items you sell for those made in Taiwan.
• Determine if they meet the requirements of the TAA.
• Process the GSA modification to include those products on your GSA Schedule contract

• If you do not want to do all of this yourself:
• Locate partners now such as Technical Communities who already have multiple GSA Schedule contracts and will act for you in the market.
• Make sure they have full access to the products or services that are in demand for the government markets, including those made in Taiwan.

Understanding the TAA

The TAA has been in place since 1979 and applies to procurements over approximately $175,000. The TAA requires federal agencies to treat the products of countries that have signed a reciprocal trade agreement as favorably as U.S.-made products in their own government procurements. More importantly, the Act prohibits the purchase of products made in countries that haven't signed a reciprocal trade agreement.