US unveils Asia-Pacific trade framework

TOKYO (AFP) – United States President Joe Biden launched a new Asia-Pacific trade initiative yesterday in Tokyo, with 13 countries including Japan and the Philippines signing up, although questions about the pact’s effectiveness remain.

Biden formally unveiled the IndoPacific Economic Framework for Prosperity or IPEF, on his second day in Japan, where he is also holding talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before joining a regional Quad summit today.

“This framework is a commitment to working with our close friends and partners in the region on challenges that matter most to ensuring economic competitiveness in the 21st century,” Biden said.

Unlike traditional trade blocs, there is no plan for IPEF members to negotiate tariffs and ease market access – a tool that has become increasingly unpalatable to US voters fearful of seeing homegrown manufacturing undermined.

Instead, the program foresees integrating partners through agreed standards in four main areas: the digital economy, supply chains, clean energy infrastructure and anti-corruption measures.

The starting list of members in addition to the US consists of Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

The countries touted IPEF as a framework for what will ultimately become a tight-knit group of trading nations.

“We share a commitment to a free, open, fair, inclusive, interconnected, resilient, secure, and prosperous IndoPacific region,” they said in a joint statement. “Deepening economic engagement among partners is crucial for continued growth, peace, and prosperity.”

Together, the participants account for about 40 percent of global GDP and “there are other countries that could conceivably join us,” Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters.

China has criticized IPEF as an attempt to create a closed club. Sullivan rejected this, saying “it is by design and definition an open platform.”

Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China claims sovereignty over, has pointedly not been brought into the initial line-up – despite being an important link in supply chains for microchips.