Ministers from 14 member states of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework are expected to declare the start of formal negotiations this week in Los Angeles, informed sources say, as they work to codify a rules-based economic order in the fast-growing region.
Starting Thursday, the two-day meeting in LA will be the first in-person ministerial gathering of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, known as the IPEF, which U.S. President Joe Biden's administration created as a vehicle to counter China's ascendance in the region.
Unlike a conventional trade agreement, the IPEF does not involve tariff cuts and trade liberalization, which are sensitive issues in the United States. Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew the world's biggest economy from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal in 2017 over such concerns.