Business groups urge Biden to return trade to heart of Asia policies

US-led chambers among 15 international associations in combined push for regional trade agreements, but China group silent

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework a start, but Washington urged to put all incentives ‘on the table’

Reading Time:3 minutes

A 15-strong group of international business associations has called on US President Joe Biden to focus more on boosting trade with Asia. Photo: AP

Published: 11:11am, 24 Jun 2022Updated: 5:07pm, 24 Jun 2022

The US Chamber of Commerce and more than a dozen other American business associations representing companies invested in Asia issued a joint statement on Thursday that pushes US President Joe Biden to put trade back into his economic policies aimed at the region.

While the statement – also signed by the US-India Business Council, the US-Korea Business Council and the US-Japan Business Council – starts as a strong endorsement for Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), it also includes a call to work with the US Congress on measures that would complement the initiative, signalling their desire for trade agreements.

“While participation in the IPEF does not preclude or replace membership in regional trade architectures like the CPTPP, for the IPEF to be most effective we urge the United States and other IPEF members to put all incentives on the table – including those that may require closer consultation with Congress,” the business groups said.

“That is the best way to achieve the most meaningful benefits for American businesses, workers and consumers.”

CPTPP is the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, a later iteration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which emerged after former president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the trade pact in 2017.

Biden announced last month that 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific had joined IPEF, which emphasises labour and environmental standards instead of market access, and has faced steady criticism from some lawmakers and pundits from both political parties.

They include Senator Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware, and Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, who argue that lowering trade barriers would be more effective in furthering the US government’s objective of countering China’s economic influence in Asia, a strongly bipartisan goal.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x