Canada-Taiwan relations
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Overview
Canada is represented in Taiwan by the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei. This is a locally-incorporated entity staffed by Canadian and local Taiwanese personnel. Consistent with its One China policy, Canada maintains unofficial but valuable economic, cultural and people-to-people ties with Taiwan.
Trade and investment
Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Arrangement
On December 22, 2023, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ottawa signed a foreign investment promotion and protection arrangement. This Arrangement is designed to help protect and promote Canadian investments in Taiwan, and Taiwanese investments in Canada.
Science, Technology, and Innovation Arrangement
On April 15, 2024, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada signed a Science, Technology, and Innovation Arrangement. This Arrangement will enable opportunities for business-led co-innovation partnerships in high tech sectors under the Canadian International Innovation Program as well as expanded research collaborations across the Canadian and Taiwanese ecosystems.
Collaborative Framework on Supply Chains Resilience
At the 2023 Canada-Taiwan Economic Consultations, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada endorsed the Collaborative Framework on Supply Chains Resilience.
Taiwan is an important regional partner in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. The framework aims to build sustainable and diverse trade among reliable partners to mitigate supply chain disruptions and increase resiliency.
Avoidance of Double Taxation Arrangement
On January 15, 2016, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada signed an Arrangement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income. The Arrangement limits the rate of withholding tax to 10% on dividends paid to a company that holds directly or indirectly at least 20% of the capital of the company that pays the dividends, and 15% on dividends paid in all other cases; and to 10% for payments of interest and royalties. The Arrangement also exempts from withholding tax certain payments of interest.
Merchandise
In 2023, Taiwan was Canada's 15th largest trading partner and sixth largest in Asia. Total merchandise trade with Taiwan in 2023 was $12 billion, with Canadian merchandise exports of $2.6 billion, and imports from Taiwan at $9.5 billion. Canada's priority sectors for business development in Taiwan are aerospace, information and communications technology, agri-food and seafood products, biotechnology and life sciences, clean technologies, education, and energy.
Services
In 2023, Canada’s two-way services trade with Taiwan was $1.9 billion. Services exports to Taiwan were $646 million and services imports from Taiwan were $1.3 billion. Top sectors for service exports include transport, travel, research and development services, financial services, and intellectual property.
On an immediate investing country basis, the total stock of Canadian direct investment in Taiwan in 2023 stood at $870 million, and the total stock of Taiwan direct investment in Canada stood at $483 million over the same period (10th largest in the Indo-Pacific).
Related links
Partnerships and organizations
To develop effective responses to today’s most pressing global challenges, Canada and Taiwan work closely in multilateral fora, such as:
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