Biden Administration Begins Work On Indo-Pacific Trade Deal

The Biden administration recently announced that is working with 12 other countries on a new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that will be designed to counter China’s growing economic and national security influence in the world.

The negotiations come at a time when China is attempting to assemble a broad deal of its own with ten Pacific island nations. The aim of those talks is to increase China’s security commitment and deepen cultural and educational exchange programs with China.

U.S. officials have not released a detailed plan for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework — click here to see the Biden administration’s statement — but White House officials said the framework will look beyond the usual parameters of a trade agreement and address barriers to growth, including broken supply chains and outdated infrastructure, that have contributed to increased consumer costs.

According to The Associated Press, negotiations with partner countries will revolve around four topics, with the work being split between the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Commerce. USTR will handle talks on a “fair” trade pillar that will likely would likely include efforts to protect U.S. workers from job losses. The Commerce Department will oversee negotiations on the other three pillars, which are supply chain resiliency, infrastructure and climate change, and tax and anti-corruption.

The United States’ North American trading partners did not take part in the discussions, which included Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Thailand.

President Biden announced the Framework during a trip to Asia. The president made other news during that trip as well. Specifically, during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the president said reducing the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods that were imposed by the Trump administration is something that is currently “under consideration.”