Washington, 21 January 2022 (TDI): In a bid to counter China’s influence in the region, the United States (US) announced that it seeks to create “common goals” on economic cooperation with the Indo-Pacific countries in the first quarter of 2022.
Earlier, the US President, Joe Biden had told leaders from the Asian countries that talks on the establishment of an Indo-Pacific economic framework would soon begin, but little has happened in that department. Furthermore, some critics have argued that joining trade deals could threaten jobs in the US.
“What the president said … was that we will begin discussions with partners to develop an economic framework to position us well for the future – laser-focused on making life better for workers and the middle class – and that will guide our economic engagement in the region” – Senior official of the U.S. Administration
Laura Rosenberger, White House Senior Director for China said that talks with partners in the last few months have helped to cement the Administration’s thinking on how to establish such a framework.
“Our initial ideas on proposed areas of economic cooperation include trade facilitation, digital economy standards, supply-chain resiliency, infrastructure, decarbonization and clean energy, export controls, tax, and anti-corruption and we will continue to focus on establishing common goals and end states that we would jointly announce in the coming months, the early period of 2022” -Laura Rosenberger.
She added that it was important to promote a free and open region but also stressed the importance of protecting American workers. As the economic influence of China grows, its relations with the United States have seen an all-time low.
The Biden Administration has sought to leverage ties with its allies and partners to counter this situation. Recent US partnerships with the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia have also caused some tensions between China and the US.
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