Biden launches economic framework aimed at countering China | International Trade

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity will include 12 Asia-Pacific members, including South Korea and Japan.

US President Joe Biden officially launched his long-awaited economic framework aimed at countering growing Chinese influence in Asia, announcing 12 Asia-Pacific partners who will work on common standards in areas including clean energy and infrastructure.

Biden unveiled the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in Japan on Monday during the second leg of an Asia trip aimed at shoring up US engagement in the region.

The IPEF, which aims to boost ties through common standards in supply-chain resilience, clean energy, infrastructure and digital trade, will initially include South Korea, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The framework includes four pillars: trade; supply chains; clean energy and infrastructure; and tax and anti-corruption.

“The United States is an Indo-Pacific economic power, and expanding US economic leadership in the region is good for American workers and businesses — as well as for the people of the region,” the White House said in a statement for the launch.

The framework represents Biden’s latest attempt to boost engagement in the Asia-Pacific following then President Donald Trump’s abrupt withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) trade agreement in 2017.

Firm details for implementing the framework, which Biden first announced in October, will be shored up through discussions with partner countries in the coming weeks and months.

The Biden administration, however, has made clear the IPEF is not a traditional trade agreement that would expand Asia-Pacific countries’ access to the US market. The framework’s limited scope and lack of binding commitments have been viewed with disappointment by some analysts and officials in the region, who argue Washington should seek economic engagement on a broader scale.

The launch of the IPEF is the centerpiece of Biden’s two-day visit to Japan, which includes meetings with Japanese officials including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the the leaders of fellow “Quad” members India and Australia, all of whom share concerns about China’s increasing assertiveness.

Beijing has criticized the framework, with foreign minister Wang Yi on Sunday declaring that China “opposes attempts to create division and confrontation”.

“The Asia-Pacific should become a high ground for peaceful development, not a geopolitical gladiatorial arena,” Wang said, calling the IPEF “a strategy to undermine peace”.