<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><span style="font-style: normal;" class="">Hi everyone,</span></div><div style="font-style: normal;" class=""><span style="font-style: normal;" class=""><br class=""></span></div>A quick reminder that the public comment period on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework’s negotiating objectives closes this coming Monday, April 11. This pact has the potential to become the “Biden template” on trade, so weighing in now on what you want and don’t want in this pact is very important. <div class=""><span style="font-style: normal;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-style: normal;" class=""><b class="">Submitting IPEF comments is easy with these resources for <a href="https://tradejusticeedfundorg.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/ipef_publiccommentperiodtalkingpoints.pdf" class="">organizations</a> and <a href="https://citizenstrade.salsalabs.org/CTC033122IPEFPublicComments/index.html" class="">individuals</a>.</b></span><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Thanks!</div><div class=""><br class=""><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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<div class=""><b class="" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Morning Trade: Expectations rising for IPEF talks</span></b></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in;"><font face="Georgia, serif" class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px;">Politico Pro, </span></font><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;">4/6/22</span><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in;"><font face="Georgia, serif" class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 11pt;">By Gavin Bade </span></font><i class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">with help from Doug Palmer and Steven Overly<o:p class=""></o:p></i></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">QUICK FIX<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">— Expectations are rising that the Biden administration is close to announcing an opening of formal negotiations on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework </span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">— though it’s likely to amount to an agreement to keep talking.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br class=""></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">— U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai courted a key potential IPEF ally — Singapore — </span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">in a meeting with the city-state’s prime minister on Tuesday.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></b></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">DRIVING THE DAY<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">SOMETHING’S COMING ON IPEF:</span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> The Biden administration appears close to an announcement of some sort on its proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, but exactly what’s around the bend is a mystery for now.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Senate Foreign Relations Chair <a href="https://directory.politicopro.com/congress/member/51523" target="_blank" class="" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">Bob Menendez</a> stoked curiosity on the topic on Tuesday, telling your host, “I can’t give you the exact timeframe” for an announcement, “but I think it’ll be sooner rather than later.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">“I think the administration wants to achieve an opening gambit as soon as possible,” the New Jersey Democrat continued. “When they get to that point, it won’t be with a singular nation. I think it’ll be with a group.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">So, what are we talking about here? </span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The details of that “opening gambit” are still unclear. But it will likely be an unveiling of a group of nations that commit to working out the details of the IPEF framework in later discussions.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">So, an agreement to keep talking, more or less. And it’s likely to contain at least a few Southeast Asian nations, Menendez said, that have expressed interest in joining the pact, even though they want to see more ambitious trade provisions.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">One potential forum could be a rescheduled summit </span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was supposed to take place last week in Washington but had to be moved.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">White House Asia Coordinator Kurt Campbell implored ASEAN nations to attend the summit during an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday, saying it would be the “greatest gift” they could give the U.S. after the scheduling mishap.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></b></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Focus on digital:</span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> Raising digital standards around issues like privacy, security and cross-border data flows across more parts of Southeast Asia has been a top priority for countries shaping the terms of the economic framework, U.S. and Singaporean officials said Tuesday.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Some countries such as Singapore are already meeting many of the framework’s digital obligations, but the economic framework is the Biden administration’s “main approach” for expanding those standards across the region, Deputy USTR Sarah Bianchi said at the same conference, co-hosted by CSIS and the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Bringing others to the table:</span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> Some countries may not be willing to sign on to the framework’s “trade pillar,” which will house the digital commitments, Bianchi acknowledged. But the framework is designed to allow countries to pick and choose the pillars they want to join — meaning a country could make commitments around clean energy or supply chain resilience, for instance, without making commitments on digital trade or labor standards.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">“Those are conversations that we will get into as we get underway,” Bianchi said. “And right now what we’re looking for is to have a big, inclusive launch and figure out where all these negotiations lead.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Singapore’s ambassador to the U.S., Ashok Mirpuri, </span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">said some Southeast Asian nations will initially find parts of the agreement, such as energy decarbonization, more appealing than others, like the digital provisions. But interest in the broader agreement can build as negotiations begin.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">“You can always say the standards they are offering are not high enough, the incentives are not good enough,” he said. “But we’re really at that very early stage of the process. Let’s have it going as soon as we can and then start to do real work in the process.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Timeline:</span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> Bianchi said the administration is “trying to land it as soon as we can” but echoed earlier remarks from Campbell that “developments in the world have made all of these issues challenging.” She said the rollout would be coming in a matter of “weeks, not months,” the same answer she gave in early February.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Across the Pacific: </span></b><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">IPEF was top of the agenda as Tai met with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday in the Southeast Asian city-state. Tai emphasized American commitment to the region and highlighted the U.S.’s “desire to work with Indo-Pacific partners, including Singapore, on establishing a high-ambition framework that will advance resilience, inclusion, sustainability, and the interests of our respective workers and middle classes,” according to a readout of the meeting.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br class=""></div></div></div></body></html>