With President Biden's arrival in Japan next week, a draft declaration for the launch of the IPEF = Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which the US government aims to announce in Tokyo, has been revealed.

We are soliciting participating countries for four pillars such as trade, supply chain, and infrastructure, and have a policy of aiming to build a strong and fair economy with a view to countering China.

The IPEF = Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is an economic partnership aimed at launching the US Biden administration with the aim of countering China, which is expanding its influence. Adjustments are being made in the direction of



In the draft declaration recently obtained by NHK, the framework will set standards for the four pillars of ▽ trade ▽ supply chain ▽ clean energy, decarbonization, infrastructure, and ▽ tax and anti-corruption measures, and will be applied to the economy of the Indo-Pacific region. It aims to bring strength, growth, fairness, etc., and to enable people to enjoy clear benefits.



It states that it will begin the process of establishing a framework and will continue to accept countries of interest.



The United States originally led the negotiations on the TPP = Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, but withdrew from the negotiations during the former Trump administration, and the Biden administration was also negative about returning to the agreement due to consideration for domestic workers. So, last year, we launched the IPEF concept as an alternative framework.



However, some of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which the United States expects to participate in, are cautious about participating because there are no merits such as tariff reductions. It means that the conditions have been relaxed so that you can choose the one you want to participate in from the four pillars, and the policy has been changed to encourage participation.



The Biden administration has held ministerial-level talks as soon as possible after the president declared for the launch of IPEF next week, and started full-scale talks in July, within 18 months. Since the idea is to launch it, the focus is on the content of the framework and how many participating countries will gather.