[CTC] Raimondo: U.S., IPEF partners have closed Commerce-led pillars

Wed Nov 15 10:13:09 PST 2023

Raimondo: U.S., IPEF partners have closed Commerce-led pillars
Inside US Trade, 11/15/23

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. and its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity partners finalized two more IPEF pillars, on a clean economy and a fair economy, during a meeting here on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.

Raimondo announced the agreements in remarks <https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-secretary-of-commerce-gina-m-raimondo-japanese-foreign-minister-kamikawa-yoko-and-japanese-minister-of-economy-trade-and-industry-nishimura-yasutoshi-before-their-meet/> ahead of a meeting on Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan’s foreign minister and trade minister. Earlier on Tuesday, the Commerce secretary led an IPEF ministerial meeting on the clean economy, fair economy and supply chain pillars, all steered by her department.

“We had an excellent ministerial earlier today, closing out the three pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework,” Raimondo said. She did not offer additional details about the pillars.

Other IPEF country officials on Tuesday said the partners had signed the supply chain agreement <https://insidetrade.com/node/178390> that they substantially concluded in May, and Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said he was expecting significant progress on green economy and anti-corruption, issues covered by the other two Commerce-led pillars.

Under the clean economy pillar, the U.S. has said it wants to help IPEF partners make the so-called “green transition” by reducing costs for clean technologies and lowering carbon emissions in key sectors. According to a summary of a proposed negotiating text <https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/IPEF-Pillar-III-Clean-Economy-Public-Summary.pdf> released by Commerce earlier this year, the U.S. “seeks to create a framework through which IPEF Partners can identify new opportunities and advance existing efforts in shared areas of interest to promote the resiliency, innovation, sustainability, and security of a clean economy and to support ongoing collaboration among IPEF Partners and stakeholders.” The text “also emphasizes the critical role of both the public and private sectors in creating incentives that help enable the clean economy transition,” according to the summary.

According to a Japanese government readout <https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2023/nov/wto2023_0992a.pdf> on Tuesday, the country plans to contribute about $10 million to an “IPEF Fund,” set to be launched to support efforts under the clean economy pillar.

The U.S. and Australia also are set to provide about $10 million each to the fund, according to a report by NHK World-Japan <https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231115_19/#:~:text=As%20for%20the%20clean%20economy,million%20dollars%20in%20financial%20assistance.>.

During an IPEF ministerial held in May in Detroit, some members, led by Japan and Singapore, agreed to establish a “regional hydrogen initiative” under the pillar, an effort focused on boosting adoption of clean hydrogen <https://insidetrade.com/node/177395> technology.

According to Farrell, the pillar also could help support the partners’ supply chains for critical minerals needed for technologies like electric vehicle batteries. Australia is a top producer of such minerals. 

“We think if we can get this agreement in the next couple of days, that gives us a really good head start in firstly providing those minerals to these countries, but also getting the investment that we need to extract them so that we can meet our target of net zero by 2050,” he said in a radio interview on Tuesday <https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2023/nov/wto2023_0993a.pdf>.

The fair economy pillar, meanwhile, is focused on fighting corruption. A summary of a proposed U.S. negotiating text <https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/IPEF-Pillar-IV-Fair-Economy-Public-Summary.pdf> for the pillar says it “seeks to promote a fair economy, including preventing and combating corruption and related financial crimes, improving tax administration, and increasing cooperation, information sharing, and capacity building on these issues.” In addition, it “innovates in recognizing the importance of preventing and combating corruption in the context of labor law implementation and enforcement” and includes a focus on international tax issues, among other concerns outlined in the summary.

President Biden is set to lead a meeting with IPEF leaders here on Thursday, where many also are gathered to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit.

Negotiations on IPEF’s trade pillar, led by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, are expected to extend past the leaders meeting. Some officials here, though, have suggested that the partners might announce progress on aspects of the pillar this week. -- Margaret Spiegelman (mspiegelman at iwpnews.com <mailto:mspiegelman at iwpnews.com>)

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

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