U.S. to Share Details on Asia Economic Framework in Coming Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration will share more details about its work on an economic framework agreement with Asian nations in the coming weeks, according to a top trade official.

The U.S. is aiming for the pact -- known as the Indo-Pacific economic framework -- to include digital issues like data localization and cross-border data flows, as well as rules for labor, the environment and climate change, deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi said.

“We're a little bit in the early innings here,” Bianchi said in a virtual conference Tuesday hosted by the Washington International Trade Association. As people learn more of the details, “they'll find that there's a fair amount of meat to the approach that we're thinking about,” she said. “This initiative is actually pretty exciting and will be pretty robust.”

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who is leading the U.S. work with USTR Katherine Tai, announced the plan in November after talks with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. The Biden administration has made clear that it isn't rejoining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership after then-President Donald Trump abandoned an earlier version of the deal.

The framework won't be a traditional trade deal but aims to cover supply-chain resilience including for semiconductors, infrastructure, cybersecurity, tech standards and privacy, Raimondo said in November. It will also guide cooperation on export controls, monitor supply chains and coordinate investments in Asia.

Beyond the framework, Bianchi said that talks with China are continuing about the nation's so-called “phase one” agreement purchasing targets that weren't met. The U.S. is looking at all tools to hold Beijing accountable as well as examining Chinese policy threats that were not addressed by the pact, Bianchi said.

The U.S. also wants to deepen trade engagement with Kenya, and the USTR will have more to say about the East African nation in the coming weeks, Bianchi said.