The Biden administration is looking to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the U.S. left in 2017, and during a recent visit to Tokyo, President Biden announced the launch of a new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
According to The Economic Times, the details of the IPEF are still being ironed out, but it is a way for the U.S. to show it wants to remain a leading force in Asia. The partnership currently includes the 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan remarked that the IPEF is "focused around the further integration of Indo-Pacific economies, setting of standards and rules, particularly in new areas like the digital economy, and also trying to ensure that there are secure and resilient supply chains," according to The Economic Times.
The need for new world economic standards has been highlighted by recent international events including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which significantly disrupted trade on a global scale.
IPEF member countries will negotiate four economic "pillars." A U.S. trade representative will oversee the issue of fair trade and the U.S. Department of Commerce will oversee issues of supply chain resiliency, infrastructure and climate change, and tax and anti-corruption.
The partnership is said to be an open platform, but noticeably excludes the island of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.
"We are looking to deepen our economic partnership with Taiwan including on high-technology issues, including semiconductor supply, but we're pursuing that in the first instance on a bilateral basis," Sullivan said, according to The Economic Times.
Officials estimate that trade negotiations will take 12 to 18 months.