In One Sentence

• The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) concluded its first in-person ministerial meeting on September 9, 2022.
• 13 of the 14 IPEF countries committed to joining all four pillars of the framework while India chose to opt out of the trade pillar. 
• Ministers from the IPEF member states announced negotiating objectives for the four pillars: trade, supply chain, clean energy and fair economy.
• Before the IPEF meeting, U.S. lawmakers again called for more transparency and congressional consultation regarding the negotiations.

Mark the Essentials

• Regarding the trade pillar, the ministers said they seek “new and creative approaches to trade and technology policies,” underlining priorities on labor, environment, the digital economy, agriculture, transparency and good regulatory practices. 
• According to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, IPEF countries also seek to develop standards on cross-border data flows and data localization.
• U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, who leads the U.S. negotiations in three of the four pillars, said that “early harvest opportunities” will likely lie in the supply chain pillar.
• Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi said that IPEF countries are “supportive” of arranging IPEF as an executive agreement, adding that such an agreement will be “durable and lasting.”
• In a letter dated September 6, 44 Democratic lawmakers and one independent criticized the launch of IPEF for the lack of prior “robust stakeholder and congressional consultation” or “a mandate from Congress,” echoing similar calls from Republican lawmakers and others. 
• Some commentators have questioned the enforceability and endurance of IPEF, while others marked it as an important first step to be followed by further, stronger regional economic efforts.

Keeping an Eye On…

• The first in-person ministerial meeting of the member states of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) appears to have gone off without a hitch. Participation in the four pillars is wide-ranging and the hope is that certain deliverables can be harvested early. While the four-pillar framework might—or might not—be a “new and creative approach” to trade policy liberalization and standards-setting, it does ring the death knell on the single undertaking approach of trade negotiation; at least insofar as the U.S.-led plurilateral trade agreement-related negotiations are concerned. Now, the hard part of IPEF begins in earnest. How the parties reconcile the competing priorities of ambition and inclusivity, liberalization without meaningful market access, enforceability without binding dispute settlement, and transparency without meaningful accountability will go a long way towards determining whether IPEF is truly the “new and creative” approach that it is advertised to be or just a journeyman effort to mark time at a moment when trade liberalization enjoys ever-fewer advocates on either side of the aisle on Capitol Hill. The proof of the pudding will be in its eating. Let the negotiations begin.

Expanded Reading

• India stays out of ‘trade pillar’ at Indo-Pacific meet, The Hindu, September 10, 2022
• United States and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Partners Announce Negotiation Objectives, Office of the United States Trade Representative, September 9, 2022
• Biden Administration Outlines Scope of Asian Economic Pact, The New York Times, September 9, 2022 [Paywall]
• Commerce Department Launches the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Upskilling Initiative, U.S. Department of Commerce, September 8, 2022
• Remarks by Ambassador Katherine Tai at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Ministerial Welcome Event, Office of the United States Trade Representative, September 8, 2022
• U.S. business leader outlines hopes for IPEF ministerial, Politico, September 6, 2022