IPEF ministers set to meet in San Francisco, expected to reach key economic deal

The United States, Japan and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to reach a broad agreement on economic rulemaking at a ministerial meeting in San Francisco next week.

Tuần lễ cấp cao APEC 2023 diễn ra từ ngày 11-17/11 tại San Francisco, bang California. (Nguồn: apec2023sf)

The IPEF ministerial meeting will take place next week in San Francisco, California, USA. (Source: apec2023sf)

Kyodo news agency, citing sources familiar with the matter, said the agreement is expected to come as the 14 members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) are accelerating efforts to come up with rules-based solutions that can be enforced in a region where China is expanding its influence.

The deal will not, however, address the thorny issue of setting digital trade standards.

Launched in May 2022, IPEF has focused on establishing what members call “high-standard commitments” to enhance economic engagement across four pillars – trade, supply chain resilience, clean energy and appropriate taxation, along with anti-corruption efforts.

After members agreed to strengthen supply chain resilience for critical goods such as semiconductors and medicines by May 2022, IPEF countries are aiming to reach broad consensus on the remaining three pillars this year at a ministerial meeting on November 13-14 in San Francisco, California, USA.

This will be the third in-person IPEF ministerial meeting, taking place ahead of the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco.

Source