Law360 Quotes Stephen Kho on White House Indo-Pacific Trade Initiative
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For its article “Top Trade Policy Moves To Watch In 2023: Midyear Report,” Law360 quoted Akin international trade partner Stephen Kho. The article looks at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a trade initiative led by the White House. The IPEF, according to Law360, aims to unite 13 countries in Asia and Oceania, excluding China, across four pillars: trade, supply chains, climate change, and economic inclusivity.
Stephen noted that progress has been made in the three non-trade pillars overseen by the U.S. Department of Commerce. He said, “Interestingly, it's the three Commerce pillars that are moving quicker and look like they will actually be done, some of them, if not all, by the end of the year. Whereas the trade pillar is just lagging.”
Additionally, Stephen said that the Biden administration's stance on not pursuing tariff elimination as a trade policy could be contributing to the slower pace of the trade component of the IPEF. “I think it's flagging not because of the substance, but because there's a quid pro quo when you're negotiating,” he explained. “We, the United States, want high standards, and they want market access, and that's usually how that works."
