119-s1900

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1900 Reported in Senate

    (RS) ]

<DOC>

 Calendar No. 100
119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 1900

 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to pursue more equitable 
 treatment of Taiwan at the international financial institutions, and 
 for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 May 22, 2025

 Mr. McCormick (for himself, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Sullivan, and Ms. Slotkin) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Relations

 June 18, 2025

 Reported by Mr. Risch, without amendment

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to pursue more equitable 
 treatment of Taiwan at the international financial institutions, and 
 for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Taiwan Non-Discrimination Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds as follows:

    (1) As enshrined in its Articles of Agreement, the 
 International Monetary Fund

    (IMF) is devoted to promoting 
 international monetary cooperation, facilitating the expansion 
 and balanced growth of international trade, encouraging 
 exchange stability, and avoiding competitive exchange 
 depreciation.

    (2) Taiwan is the 21st largest economy in the world and the 
 10th largest goods trading partner of the United States.

    (3) Although Taiwan is not an IMF member, it is a member of 
 the World Trade Organization, the Asian Development Bank, and 
 the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

    (4) According to the January 2020 Report on Macroeconomic 
 and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the 
 United States, published by the Department of the Treasury, 
 Taiwan held $471,900,000,000 in foreign exchange reserves, more 
 than major economies such as India, South Korea, and Brazil.

    (5) According to 

section 4
            (d) of the Taiwan Relations Act 
 (Public Law 96-8), enacted on April 10, 1979, ``Nothing in this 
 Act may be construed as a basis for supporting the exclusion or 
 expulsion of Taiwan from continued membership in any 
 international financial institution or any other international 
 organization.''.

    (6) Taiwan held membership in the IMF for 9 years following 
 the recognition of the People's Republic of China

    (PRC) by the 
 United Nations, and 16 Taiwan staff members at the Fund were 
 allowed to continue their employment after the PRC was seated 
 at the IMF in 1980. As James M. Boughton has noted in his 
 Silent Revolution: The International Monetary Fund 1979-1989, 
 even as the PRC was seated, the United States Executive 
 Director to the IMF, Sam Y. Cross, expressed support on behalf 
 of the United States Government for ``some kind of association 
 between Taiwan and the Fund''.

    (7) On September 27, 1994, in testimony before the Senate 
 Committee on Foreign Relations regarding the 1994 Taiwan Policy 
 Review, then-Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and 
 Pacific Affairs Winston Lord stated: ``Recognizing Taiwan's 
 important role in transnational issues, we will support its 
 membership in organizations where statehood is not a 
 prerequisite, and we will support opportunities for Taiwan's 
 voice to be heard in organizations where its membership is not 
 possible.''.

    (8) The Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed support for this 
 policy, including in Public Laws 107-10, 107-158, 108-28, 108-
 235, 113-17, and 114-139, and the unanimous House and Senate 
 passage of the Taiwan Allies International Protection and 
 Enhancement Initiative

    (TAIPEI) Act of 2019.

    (9) In its fact sheet, entitled ``U.S. Relations with 
 Taiwan'', published on August 31, 2018, the Department of State 
 asserts: ``The United States supports Taiwan's membership in 
 international organizations that do not require statehood as a 
 condition of membership and encourages Taiwan's meaningful 
 participation in international organizations where its 
 membership is not possible.''.

    (10) According to the Articles of Agreement of the IMF, 
 ``membership shall be open to other countries'', subject to 
 conditions prescribed by the Board of Governors of the IMF.

    (11) In the IMF publication ``Membership and Nonmembership 
 in the International Monetary Fund: A Study in International 
 Law and Organization'', Joseph Gold, the then-General Counsel 
 and Director of the Legal Department of the IMF, elaborated on 
 the differences between the terms ``countries'' and ``states'', 
 noting that ``the word `country' may have been adopted because 
 of the absence of agreement on the definition of a `state''' 
 and, with respect to the use of ``countries'' and applications 
 for IMF membership, ``the absence of any adjective in the 
 Articles emphasizes the breadth of the discretion that the Fund 
 may exercise in admitting countries to membership''. According 
 to Mr. Gold, ``the desire to give the Fund flexibility in 
 dealing with applications may explain not only the absence of 
 any adjective that qualifies `countries' but also the choice of 
 that word itself''.

    (12) In his IMF study, Mr. Gold further observes, ``in the 
 practice of the Fund the concepts of independence and 
 sovereignty have been avoided on the whole as a mode of 
 expressing a criterion for membership in the Fund''. He 
 continues, ``Although the Fund usually takes into account the 
 recognition or nonrecognition of an entity as a state, there 
 are no rules or even informal understandings on the extent to 
 which an applicant must have been recognized by members or 
 other international organizations before the Fund will regard 
 it as eligible for membership.''. In fact, when considering an 
 application for membership where the status of an applicant may 
 not be resolved, Mr. Gold writes ``there have been occasions on 
 which the Fund has made a finding before decisions had been 
 taken by the United Nations or by most members or by members 
 with a majority of the total voting power.'' Mr. Gold 
 concludes, ``the Fund makes its own findings on whether an 
 applicant is a `country', and makes them solely for its own 
 purposes.''.

    (13) Although not a member state of the United Nations, the 
 Republic of Kosovo is a member of both the IMF and the World 
 Bank, having joined both organizations on June 29, 2009.

    (14) On October 26, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken 
 issued a statement in support of Taiwan's ``robust, meaningful 
 participation'' in the United Nations system, which includes 
 the IMF, the World Bank, and other specialized United Nations 
 agencies. Secretary of State Blinken noted, ``As the 
 international community faces an unprecedented number of 
 complex and global issues, it is critical for all stakeholders 
 to help address these problems. This includes the 24 million 
 people who live in Taiwan. Taiwan's meaningful participation in 
 the UN system is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one.''. 
 He continued, ``Taiwan's exclusion undermines the important 
 work of the UN and its related bodies, all of which stand to 
 benefit greatly from its contributions.''.

    (15) In October 2024, Taiwan announced it would seek IMF 
 membership, with the Taipei Economic and Cultural 
 Representative Office in the United States stating, ``Taiwan's 
 membership at the IMF would help boost financial resilience.''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

 It is the sense of the Congress that--

    (1) the size, significance, and connectedness of the 
 Taiwanese economy highlight the importance of greater 
 participation by Taiwan in the International Monetary Fund, 
 given the purposes of the Fund articulated in its Articles of 
 Agreement; and

    (2) the experience of Taiwan in developing a vibrant and 
 advanced economy under democratic governance and the rule of 
 law should inform the work of the international financial 
 institutions, including through increased participation by 
 Taiwan in the institutions.

SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR TAIWAN ADMISSION TO THE IMF.

    (a) In General.--The United States Governor of the International 
Monetary Fund (in this section referred to as the ``Fund'') shall use 
the voice and vote of the United States to vigorously support--

    (1) the admission of Taiwan as a member of the Fund, to the 
 extent that admission is sought by Taiwan;

    (2) participation by Taiwan in regular surveillance 
 activities of the Fund with respect to the economic and 
 financial policies of Taiwan, consistent with Article IV 
 consultation procedures of the Fund;

    (3) employment opportunities for Taiwan nationals, without 
 regard to any consideration that, in the determination of the 
 United States Governor, does not generally restrict the 
 employment of nationals of member countries of the Fund; and

    (4) the ability of Taiwan to receive appropriate technical 
 assistance and training by the Fund.

    (b) United States 

=== Policy ===
-It is the policy of the United States 
not to discourage or otherwise deter Taiwan from seeking admission as a 
member of the Fund.
            (c) Waiver.--The Secretary of the Treasury may waive any 
requirement of subsection

    (a) for up to 1 year at a time on reporting 
to Congress that providing the waiver will substantially promote the 
objective of securing the meaningful participation of Taiwan at each 
international financial institution (as defined in 

section 1701
            (c) (2) of the International Financial Institutions Act).
            (d) Sunset.--This section shall have no force or effect on the 
earlier of--

    (1) the date of approval by the Board of Governors of the 
 Fund for the admission of Taiwan as a member of the Fund; or

    (2) the date that is 10 years after the date of the 
 enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. TESTIMONY REQUIREMENT.

 In each of the next 7 years in which the Secretary of the Treasury 
is required by 

section 1705

    (b) of the International Financial 
Institutions Act to present testimony, the Secretary shall include in 
the testimony a description of the efforts of the United States to 
support the greatest participation practicable by Taiwan at each 
international financial institution (as defined in 

section 1701
            (c) (2) of such Act).
 Calendar No. 100

119th CONGRESS

 1st Session

 S. 1900

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to pursue more equitable 
 treatment of Taiwan at the international financial institutions, and 
 for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 June 18, 2025

 Reported without amendment