NEWS : India joined the US and 11 other nations to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)

DETAILS

• Objective – strengthening economic linkages among participating nations
• Members – 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), all four Quad countries, and New Zealand
• The negotiations for the IPEF are expected to centre around four main pillars, including trade, supply chain resiliency, clean energy and decarbonisation, and taxes and anti-corruption measures
• Countries would have to sign up to all of the components within a module, but do not have to participate in all modules
• Will not include market access commitments such as lowering tariff barriers
• Not seek to replace the 11-nation CPTPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) that the US quit in 2017, or the RCEP, which China, and all of the other IPEF countries (minus the US) are a part of

Four pillars of IPEF

1. Tradethat will include digital economy and emerging technology, labour commitments, the environment, trade facilitation, transparency and good regulatory practices, and corporate accountability, standards on cross-border data flows and data localisations;
2. Supply chain resiliencyto develop “a first-of-its-kind supply chain agreement” that would anticipate and prevent disruptions;
3. Clean energy and decarbonisationthat will include agreements on “high-ambition commitments” such as renewable energy targets, carbon removal purchasing commitments, energy efficiency standards, and new measures to combat methane emissions; and
4. Tax and anti-corruption, with commitments to enact and enforce “effective tax, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery schemes in line with [American] values”.