President Biden, 12 Indo-Pacific partners launch IPEF in Tokyo

IPEF will enable the United States and its allies to decide on rules of the road that ensure American workers, small businesses and ranchers can compete in the Indo-Pacific, according to a White House factsheet.

Tackling inflation is a top economic priority, and this framework will help lower costs by making US supply chains more resilient in the long term, protecting the country against costly disruptions that lead to higher prices for consumers, it said.

US foreign direct investment in the region totalled more than $969 billion in 2020 and has nearly doubled in the last decade, and the United States is the leading exporter of services to the region, helping fuel regional growth.

Trade with the Indo-Pacific supports more than three million American jobs and is the source of nearly $900 billion in foreign direct investment in the United States. With 60 per cent of the world’s population, the Indo-Pacific is projected to be the largest contributor to global growth over the next 30 years. 

The United States and its partners in the region believe that much of their success in the coming decades will depend on how well governments harness innovation—especially the transformations afoot in the clean energy, digital, and technology sectors—while fortifying our economies against a range of threats, from fragile supply chains to corruption to tax havens, the factsheet said.

The past models of economic engagement did not address these challenges, leaving workers, businesses and consumers vulnerable.

The new framework will focus on four key pillars to establish high-standard commitments that will deepen US economic engagement in the region: connected economy, resilient economy, clean economy and fair economy.

On trade, the United States will engage comprehensively with our partners on a wide range of issues. It will pursue high-standard rules of the road in the digital economy, including standards on cross-border data flows and data localisation. It will seek strong labour and environment standards and corporate accountability provisions that promote a race to the top for workers through trade.

The superpower will seek first-of-their-kind supply chain commitments that better anticipate and prevent disruptions in supply chains to create a more resilient economy and guard against price spikes that increase costs for American families. It intends to do this by establishing an early warning system, mapping critical mineral supply chains, improving traceability in key sectors and coordinating on diversification efforts.

The country will seek first-of-their-kind commitments on clean energy, decarbonisation, and infrastructure that promote good-paying jobs. It will pursue concrete, high-ambition targets that will accelerate efforts to tackle the climate crisis, including in the areas of renewable energy, carbon removal, energy efficiency standards and new measures to combat methane emissions.

The United States will seek commitments to enact and enforce effective tax, anti-money laundering and anti-bribery regimes that are in line with its existing multilateral obligations to promote a fair economy. These will include provisions on the exchange of tax information, criminalisation of bribery in accordance with UN standards and effective implementation of beneficial ownership recommendations to strengthen its efforts to crack down on corruption.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)