USSEC hosted a Taiwan Goodwill Mission to the United States on September 9-11 in Washington, D.C.  Every two years, the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) organizes a Taiwan Agriculture Goodwill Mission to the U.S. that includes a signing of letters of intent for purchasing U.S. commodities.
United Soybean Board (USB) Chair Jim Stillman, American Soybean Association (ASA) Vice President Bob Worth, USB Director and USSEC Vice Chair Sharon Covert, and USSEC CEO Jim Sutter attended this event, which also included a reception co-hosted by USSEC at the National Press Club and several farm and industry events.
The letter of intent was entered into between the Taiwan Vegetable Oil Manufacturers’ Association (TOVA) and USSEC.  TVOA expressed its intent to purchase between 2.5 - 2.8 million metric tons (MMT) of U.S. soy in 2014 and 2015, estimated to be valued between U.S. $1.5 billion and U.S. $1.68 billion.  Letters of intent are not binding sales contracts but are traditionally honored by longtime trading partners such as Taiwan and the United States.  Taiwan has purchased the quantities committed to in these letters of intent since 1997.  The value of the sales is estimated, as the final terms of the deals are negotiated by private grain companies.
In 2012, Taiwan was the seventh largest market for U.S. agricultural products, the sixth largest market for U.S. soy, and one of the world’s largest consumers of U.S. agricultural products on a per capita basis.  Taiwan has consistently imported over $3.5 billion of U.S. farm products annually.