AIT/W’s Norris Calls on AmCham

During his first visit to Taiwan since taking his current position in September 2016, John J. Norris Jr., Managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan’s Washington office (AIT/W), met with AmCham Taipei governors and senior staff on October 26 at the Chamber’s Lincoln Room for an exchange of views on U.S.-Taiwan economic relations. Norris had previously met with AmCham’s “Doorknock” delegation in Washington in June.

The topics raised by AmCham included:

• The significance for both the Taiwanese and U.S. economies of the close collaboration between companies in the two countries in the field of semiconductors, and the importance of maintaining the security of advanced technology in that industry.
• The benefit that Taiwanese investors could receive from pension reform that opens the market to wider choice for individual consumers.
• The difficulties for both employers and employees caused by the recently implemented Labor Law revisions that impose rigid regulations regarding working hours, overtime pay, and other working conditions.

A career foreign service officer, Norris served in both AIT Taipei and AIT Kaohsiung early in his career. Among his other posts related to Taiwan, he was Director of the Office of Taiwan Coordination (1998-2000) and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs (with responsibility for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mongolia) from 2008 to 2009.