(Bloomberg) — The U.S. intends to initiate a new economic framework for the Indo-Pacific in 2022, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, as the Biden administration aims to reinvigorate America’s standing in the region.
“We’re likely to launch a more formal process in the beginning of next year which will culminate in a proper economic framework” in Asia, Raimondo said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore Wednesday. “I am here in the region beginning the discussions, laying the groundwork.”
It’s clear that many people in the region want the U.S. to rejoin the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, she said, while adding that “for various reasons that is not going to happen now.”
President Joe Biden has pledged to step up U.S. engagement in Asia after years of ceding influence to China. Yet the administration has also been accused of lacking an economic vision for the region nearly five years after Donald Trump withdrew from an 11-nation Pacific trade deal.
In an earlier appearance on Bloomberg Television, Raimondo called on China to live up to its commitments, including in a trade deal between the two nations.
“China needs to play by the rules, they need to respect our IP, they need to live up to their commitments,” she said. “Right now for example in the so-called Phase 1 deal where the Chinese committed to purchase a certain amount of aircraft and agricultural products, they’re not doing that, they’re not living up to their commitments.”
In Tokyo earlier this week, Raimondo agreed to begin talks on resolving disputes over tariffs imposed on Japanese steel and aluminum under Trump. The two nations also agreed to establish the Japan-U.S. Commercial and Industrial Partnership, aimed at maintaining a free and fair economic order, improving industrial competitiveness, shoring up supply chains and tackling climate change.
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