[CTC] Time is ‘now’: Tai says ‘timely results’ from IPEF coming in 2023

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Time is ‘now’: Tai says ‘timely results’ from IPEF coming in 2023
Inside US Trade, 11/15/22
 
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework will begin to produce “timely results” in the very near future, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Tuesday, pointing to 2023 as a time frame for early outcomes.
 
Her comments, during an event hosted by Bloomberg <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2022-11-15/spotlight-on-trade-video>, come about a month ahead of the first IPEF negotiating round, scheduled to begin on Dec. 10 in Brisbane, Australia. The first in-person IPEF ministerial meeting was held in September in Los Angeles.
 
Asked if there was a timeline for concluding an agreement on IPEF, Tai said, “Yes, now.”
 
“I think this is meant to be an economic framework to address the challenges that we are facing now. And so part of the design of this [is] not being a traditional free trade agreement negotiation – those types of negotiations typically go on for several years,” she added. “By the time you’ve finished them, get them across the finish line, implement them, you’ve discovered that they are designed for an economy that has already been progressed beyond.”
 
“The key to our vision across the four pillars is to be able to deliver timely results and that is what 2023 will be all about,” she said.
 
Tai was bullish on the prospects for IPEF, saying the administration was “extremely excited” by the initiative heading into the new year. She cited the digital economy as an area within IPEF in which participants are particularly keen to establish new rules and norms. Tai leads the trade pillar while Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo leads the other three on supply chains, decarbonization and anti-corruption. Commerce also plays a role in the digital trade negotiations.
 
Additionally, Tai said, IPEF is meant to be flexible enough to accommodate new and emerging challenges in the global economy as they arise. The framework will allow the U.S. and its Indo-Pacific allies to “evolve our engagement as the economy around us changes,” she said.
 
Tai appeared at the event in Singapore on Tuesday. During her visit there she also met with Singaporean officials, highlighting “the strong momentum generated from the September IPEF Ministerial,” according to a USTR readout <https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2022/nov/wto2022_0814.pdf>.
 
“Ambassador Tai noted Singapore’s support for making progress on text-based and conceptual discussions in the upcoming negotiating round,” the readout adds. “Ambassador Tai and her counterparts also discussed their shared support for technical assistance and economic cooperation in the Trade Pillar that can spark investment in the region and create market access opportunities for all.”
 
President Biden is also in Asia this week for the G20 leaders meeting; G20 is chaired this year by Indonesia. He and Indonesian President Joko Widodo met bilaterally on Monday and discussed IPEF as well as other issues, according to an Indonesian government readout <https://setkab.go.id/en/president-jokowi-holds-a-bilateral-meeting-with-president-joe-biden/>.
 
Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20221116/e42729d2/attachment.htm>