Agriculture Regs, Trade Facilitation, Supply Chains Discussed in IPEF Negotiations
Representatives from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department presented draft negotiating text on trade facilitation, agriculture, services, domestic regulation, and transparency and good regulatory practices in the trade pillar, as well as text on supply chains, during negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in Brisbane, Australia, Dec. 10-15.
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The U.S. delegation was led by Sarah Ellerman, acting deputy assistant USTR for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and Commerce's chief negotiator, Sharon Yuan.
About 450 officials from the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were at the negotiations, according to a readout from USTR and Commerce. Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee staffers traveled to Brisbane and were briefed by administration officials. The administration said it is briefing stakeholders as well, "in keeping with our strong commitment to transparency in the development and implementation of the Biden-Harris Administration’s trade agenda."
"In addition to text-based discussions, USTR officials held detailed conceptual discussions for the following topics under Pillar I: environment, labor, digital economy, competition policy, and inclusivity," the readout said.
On the Commerce pillars, the readout said: "IPEF Partners engaged in a productive exchange of ideas as they collectively seek to achieve high-standard outcomes and deliver concrete benefits to enhance the economic competitiveness of their respective economies."