Tokyo — President Joe Biden on Monday launched a new trade deal with 12 Indo-Pacific nations aimed providing an economic pillar for U.S. engagement with Asia.
The news trade deal known as the ‘Indo-Pacific Economic Framework’, is designed by Bidens administration to signal U.S. dedication to the contested economic sphere and to address the need for stability in commerce after disruptions caused by the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nations joining the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework are Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Along with the United States, they represent 40% of world GDP.
The countries said in a joint statement that the pact will help them collectively “prepare our economies for the future” following disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The White House said the framework will help the United States and Asian economies work more closely on issues including supply chains, digital trade, clean energy, worker protections and anticorruption efforts. The details still need to be negotiated among the member countries, making it difficult for the administration to say how this agreement would fulfill the promise of helping U.S. workers and businesses while also meeting global needs.
Biden also warned Americans worried about high inflation that it was “going to be a haul” before they feel relief and that he does not believe an economic recession is inevitable in the U.S.
He acknowledged the U.S. economy has “problems” but said they were “less consequential than the rest of the world has, while speaking at a news conference after holding talks with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, also known as IPEF, has been billed by the White House as one of the bigger moments of Biden’s Asia trip and of his ongoing effort to bolster ties with Pacific allies.
Biden, who is in the midst of a five-day visit to South Korea and Japan, called the U.S.-Japanese alliance a “cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific” and thanked Japan for its “strong leadership” in standing up to Russia.
-AP/Reuters