[CTC] U.S. supports Canada joining Indo-Pacific trade talks, Blinken says

[Arthur Stamoulis]

U.S. supports Canada joining Indo-Pacific trade talks, Blinken says
 
BY: 
STEVEN OVERLY, POLITICO
 | 10/27/2022 05:31 PM EDT | UPDATED 10/27/2022 06:19 PM EDT

Canada is eager to join the ongoing negotiations over President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a nontraditional trade pact intended to deepen U.S. commercial ties throughout the region.

Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly announced Thursday that Ottawa “will seek membership” in the 14-nation framework immediately after a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who subsequently told reporters that the U.S. welcomes the idea but must consult other countries.

“We support Canada, a fellow Pacific nation, joining this framework,” Blinken said. “In the coming months, we’ll consult closely with other IPEF members on the development of a process for considering new members because it's not a decision the United States can make unilaterally.”

The Commerce Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are running point in negotiations over the framework’s four pillars, which cover trade, supply chains, clean energy, and tax and anti-corruption. A USTR spokesperson said IPEF was "always intended to be an open framework and to be expanded to like-minded partners, like Canada.”

Biden’s brainchild: The Biden administration conceptualized the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework last year and spent months pitching the idea to trading partners like Japan, South Korea and Australia.

U.S. officials extended invitations to a diverse mix of countries and ultimately 13 opted to join the talks <https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2022/05/asian-nations-biden-indo-pacific-economic-framework-00034247>. Others that expressed interest in the agreement were nonetheless left out, including Taiwan.

Biden officially launched the initiative during a visit to Japan in May and the first in-person ministerial gathering took place in Los Angeles in September. Negotiations are soon expected to pick up in earnest.

Geopolitical importance: The framework is the Biden administration’s response to growing international demand for the U.S. to expand economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has become a critical hub of trade, investment and manufacturing.

Former President Donald Trump abandoned the regional trade pact now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Many nations have since called on Biden to rejoin that agreement, which already includes Canada, Australia, Japan and others, but U.S. trade officials insist doing so is not an option because the agreement is politically unpopular and, now, out of date.

Meanwhile, China has applied to join the CPTPP and otherwise sought to expand its influence throughout Asia using its own economic and security pacts. The Biden administration has said Beijing’s overtures raise national and economic security concerns, and referred to the next 10 years as the “decisive decade” in the geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China.

Sue Allan contributed to this report. 

 Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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