Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is a new regional forum that proponents say will strengthen economic cooperation between its participants and include high labour and environmental standards; a digital trade framework; open and predictable supply-chains,  investment in de-carbonisation and clean energy and  transparent tax and anti-corruption standards. See the 'Four Pillars' negotiating objectives here.

So far, IPEF includes the US, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Fiji and Vietnam. Other countries may join later.

IPEF is an initiative of the US Biden administration mainly motivated by strategic competition with China in the region, and by US domestic politics. The US is not part of the two big existing regional trade agreements. These are the Regional Comprehensive economic Partnership (RCEP) of the ten ASEAN countries plus five other countries, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership of 11 Pacific Rim countries (CPTPP). The U.S. Congress does not currently have ‘fast track’ authority which enables negotiation of legally binding trade agreements, and there is still strong bipartisan opposition to legally binding agreements like the CPTPP, from which the Trump administration withdrew in 2016.

Unlike traditional trade deals, IPEF may not be a legally binding, or be a mixture of legally binding agreements and aspirational statements.