ECFA at 10 There is a reason why people don’t remember the trade agreement: it did nothing to benefit Taiwan By Michael Turton / Contributing reporter With 2020 headed for the exit (good riddance), it’s time once again for the annual listicles and retrospectives. In that spirit, let me note that it’s been a decade the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) came into law in Taiwan on Jan 1, 2011. The “landmark” (in the sense that a shipwreck is a “landmark”) agreement, widely praised at the time by commentators who didn’t live in Taiwan, was formed after months of negotiations between the governments of China and Taiwan in 2010.