The U.S. Needs to Take a Chance on Trade With Asia
Countries in the Indo-Pacific want to see a real commitment to economic engagement from Washington.
What Asian allies want is more access to the U.S. market.
Photographer: Bing Guan/BloombergQuestions about the U.S. commitment to Asia flourished even before Vladimir Putin’s shocking invasion of Ukraine. With Europe now demanding more attention, those doubts will only grow. That makes it all the more essential for U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to address head-on the issue Indo-Pacific nations care about most: economic engagement.
The White House remains gun-shy about politically controversial free-trade deals such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (or CPTPP) — successor to a pact (called TPP) originally sponsored by the U.S. The administration has instead staked hopes on its so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. While details remain scant, the initiative will supposedly address four broad areas of potential cooperation: trade, supply chains, infrastructure and clean energy, and taxes and anti-corruption. The aim appears to be to group multiple priorities the administration was already pursuing under a single rubric.