In One Sentence

• According to the Indonesian government, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will host an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity ministerial meeting in May; presumably in late-May. 
• The U.S. and India are committed to “fast action” within their newly launched Strategic Trade Dialogue.
• In late March, the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council will hold a roundtable event with stakeholders to discuss ongoing trans-Atlantic conversations about digital identity.
• The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative outlined its goals for five chapters to forge a “high-ambition” trade agreement with Taiwan.
• The U.S. and the European Union have agreed to launch negotiations on an agreement to provide the bloc’s industry with access to new electric vehicle tax credits in the U.S.

Mark the Essentials

• The second round of IPEF negotiations in Bali, which covered all four of the framework’s pillars, ended on March 19. A third round is scheduled for early-May in Singapore.
• Amid growing concerns about the U.S. further decoupling with China, Secretary of Commerce Raimondo said that “the United States does not seek to decouple from China, nor does it seek a technological decoupling from China.”
• The U.S. and Taiwan are aiming to address “red tape” issues, smoothe regulatory practices, promote anti-corruption, support SMEs, and further labor rights protection, while lacking commitments on market access. 
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Biden also agreed in their joint statement to launch a ‘Clean Energy Incentives Dialogue’ to coordinate their respective incentives programs related to clean technologies. 

Keeping an Eye On…

• During the week of March 13-19, at the second round of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, the United States Trade Representative tabled its all-important labor, environment and digital trade texts. The labor and environment texts are more-or-less expected to track their USMCA (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement) predecessor; the digital trade text is being keenly watched on the other hand, given that the blindly pro-business consensus hitherto on provisions favoring Big Tech in digital trade agreements has shifted markedly on the Hill and within the Biden administration. At this time, the text is being closely held…although it is just a matter of time before key provisions get leaked or released. Earlier in the week meantime, on Tuesday, March 21, European Commission Vice-President Dombrovskis shared with EU lawmakers the “first outline, first ideas” proposed by Washington with regard to a U.S.-EU Critical Minerals Pact. The purpose of the pact is to ensure that European businesses can enjoy access to the electric vehicle tax credit incentives contained in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act—specifically the critical minerals sourcing requirements that favor the U.S.’ FTA partners. The Critical Minerals Pact could yet be months in the making. A common thread ties the proposed IPEF agreement and the U.S.-EU Critical Minerals Pact together. Both are being packaged by USTR as an ‘FTA-type’ agreement even though neither is an FTA or FTA-equivalent, and the Biden administration plans to pass both agreements as sole executive agreements. Congress will not get an up-or-down vote on either agreement. Plainly stated, this amounts to an end-run—if not outright abuse—of Congress’ foreign commerce-related delegated powers, given that Congress enjoys the right not just to ratify trade agreements but also (presumably) the right to choose the instrument(s) through which it delegates trade authority to the executive branch and thus constitutionally regulate trade. The Biden administration is not the first administration to play faster-and-loose on trade agreement authority; the rules of origin in the Trump-era U.S.-Japan trade agreement skirted Congress’ delegated authority. Be that as it may, one facet of the executive branch’s trade policy making is becoming increasingly clearer by the day: as USTR strains to get its story straight on international trade liberalization, the violation of norms, rules and statute—both domestic and international—to jam through its alternative view of the role of trade policy is becoming a commonplace occurrence.

Expanded Reading

• Indonesian official: U.S. to lead IPEF ministerial in May, Inside U.S. Trade, March 15, 2023
• Joint Statement of India-U.S. Commercial Dialogue, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Commerce, March 14, 2023
• Special Briefing Via Telephone with Gina M.Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of State, March 9, 2023
• USTR Released Summaries from U.S.-Taiwan 21st Century Trade Initiative Negotiations, Executive Office of the President, March 16, 2023
• U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade Summary of Texts Proposed by the U.S. Side, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, March 2023