12 nations join U.S. in new bloc

TOKYO — President Biden has enlisted a dozen Asia-Pacific nations to join a new loosely defined economic bloc meant to counter China’s dominance and reassert U.S. influence in the region five years after his predecessor withdrew the United States from a sweeping trade accord that it had negotiated itself.

The alliance will bring the United States together with such regional powerhouses as Japan, South Korea and India to establish new rules of commerce in the fastest growing part of the world and offer an alternative to Beijing’s leadership. But wary of liberal opposition at home, Biden’s new partnership will avoid the market access provisions of traditional trade deals, raising questions about how meaningful it will be.

“We’re writing the new rules for the 21st-some century economy,” Biden said Monday in Tokyo during the launch for what he has termed the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “We’re going to help all of our country’s economies grow faster and fairer.”

The president sat alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan for the rollout of the initiative, while other leaders joined the event by videoconference. The new alliance represents the centerpiece not only of Biden’s first trip as president to Asia but also of his broader strategy in the region at a time when China has increasingly filled the void left when President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2017.

“It is by any account the most significant international economic engagement that the United States has ever had in this region,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who will lead of the negotiations triggered by the agreement, told reporters Sunday. “And the launch of it tomorrow here in Tokyo marks an important turning point in restoring U.S. economic leadership in the region and presenting Indo-Pacific countries an alternative to China’s approach to these critical issues.”

In addition to the United States, India, Japan and South Korea, the 13 members of the framework will include Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Together, the participating nations represent about 40% of the world economy and any specific agreements that emerge from the grouping could go a long way toward setting standards even beyond its membership.