TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chief Trade Negotiator John Deng (鄧振中) wants to expand the reach of the United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, reports said Wednesday (Dec. 6).

In June, the two sides signed accords on small and medium enterprises, measures against corruption, regulatory practices, and customs procedures. A second phase of talks focused on agriculture, labor, and environmental protection.

Deng wanted to expand the scope of the deal to something more closely resembling a full-blown free trade accord, Bloomberg reported. He saw the move as a strategy to counter China’s attempts at isolating Taiwan.

One issue under discussion by both sides was to increase the number of topics covered by the initiative, Deng said. A second possibility was to add tariffs to the discussions.

While he expressed the hope there would be a day that the U.S. was ready to broach the topic of tariffs, Washington was unlikely to hurry because lower tariffs might encourage U.S. businesses to move more business offshore, damaging employment inside the country, per CNA.

Deng emphasized the importance of concluding more bilateral trade agreements. Joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) might be difficult because of opposition from China, which has also launched its application process, the trade envoy told Bloomberg.