Speaker 1: Well, the US is set to host economic talks with
Speaker 1: Asian nations to counter China's influence in the Indo Pacific region,
Speaker 1: joining US to discusses Eric Martin Bloomberg, Trade and Economy Reporter.
Speaker 1: So it's called IPAF. Eric, it's supposed to start in
Speaker 1: l A on Thursday. Just tell us the nations that
Speaker 1: are coming in and what i PAF is trying to
Speaker 1: achieve here. Yes, this is thirteen nations plus the US.
Speaker 1: We have some of the members of the Group of
Speaker 1: twenty largest economies, including India, Japan, South Korea, Australia. And
Speaker 1: on the menu is trade cooperation and integration. This is
Speaker 1: an initiative that the US is leading and organizing and
Speaker 1: uh negotiating with these countries. And this is continent, a
Speaker 1: unaway replacement for the Trans Pacific Partnership that was abandoned
Speaker 1: by President Trump in the early days of his administration. Eric,
Speaker 1: are we actually expecting anything tangible to come through from this?
Speaker 1: You know that the likes of reducing tariffs or or
Speaker 1: a traditional free trade agreement. Also one thing that we
Speaker 1: know is not on the menu in terms of the
Speaker 1: options being currently negotiated. This idea of reciprocal tariff reduction,
Speaker 1: which has been a goal of US free trade agreement
Speaker 1: negotiation since MASTA in the early nine nineties. And so
Speaker 1: the question as well, if they're not talking about reducing tariffs,
Speaker 1: what are they talking about. Well, they're looking at regulatory cooperation,
Speaker 1: renewable energy promotion, UH, fair trade initiatives that that take
Speaker 1: care of labor and workers, and and just looking at
Speaker 1: ways to be kind of standard setting indiando Pacific and
Speaker 1: in Asia as a way to be present and to
Speaker 1: be asserting US leadership in the presence of China and
Speaker 1: really in competition with China. That's kind of the larger,
Speaker 1: the larger subtext here. Uh, this is coming after we
Speaker 1: saw relations with China and the U s to terrior
Speaker 1: right over Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. I guess just
Speaker 1: how much importance is the US really trying to place
Speaker 1: on on ensuring that it has enough allies in the region. Well,
Speaker 1: you know that that definitely is important. We saw I
Speaker 1: believe it was earlier today, UH National Security Advisor Jake
Speaker 1: Olivan mentioning concern about the potential for Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
Speaker 1: So this is definitely something that the Biden administration is uh,
Speaker 1: you know, is aware of and is watchful for. Uh. Actually,
Speaker 1: Taiwan is not among the the governments that is present
Speaker 1: at these negotiations. The US is is undertaking its own
Speaker 1: framework separately with Taiwan, and a lot of the governments
Speaker 1: are are signaling that they don't want to be asked
Speaker 1: to choose between the US and China, that they really
Speaker 1: want to be able to work with both, with both
Speaker 1: countries as partners. And so there's kind of an aversion
Speaker 1: to uh, you know, to being asked in any way
Speaker 1: or signaling uh you know, with US or against this
Speaker 1: type of attitude with the world to geopolitical superpowers. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Just very finally and quickly, uh, the impact of climate
Speaker 1: change here, I mean HUSSLANDA was talking with John Carey
Speaker 1: earlier in the week, the envoy saying that this is
Speaker 1: like fighting a war. I was speaking to the Singapore
Speaker 1: Minister for Trade and Energy as well, and he said
Speaker 1: this is something that that nations need to combine on here. Well, absolutely,
Speaker 1: you know, renewable energy fighting climate change are two goals
Speaker 1: for the Buying administration. We have the immediate reminder here
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles undergoing a nearly unprecedented heat wave with
Speaker 1: the danger of potential rolling blackouts even on these days
Speaker 1: when the ministers are here in l A. So you know,
Speaker 1: climate change, one of the great challenges of our times
Speaker 1: ever present, as Minister is prepared to meet here tomorrow
Speaker 1: and California avoiding those rolling blackouts are at Eric, thank
Speaker 1: you very much. Eric Martin, Bloomberg Trade and Economy Reporter,