Trump’s Promise: Say Goodbye to Biden’s Asia Trade Deal if I’m Back in 2024

“IPEF Worse Than TPP”
U.S. Argues, Citing Manufacturing Decline and Job Loss

Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced on the 18th (local time) that if re-elected in next year’s presidential election, he would immediately scrap the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) trade agreement that the Joe Biden administration is currently pursuing.

Reuters reported that on the same day, former President Trump told his supporters in Iowa the Biden administration’s IPEF trade agreement with 13 countries is a TTP2. He stated, “The next administration will dissolve Biden’s TTP2 plan on its first day.” He continued, “(The IPEF trade agreement) is worse than the first (TPP),” claiming it “will communalize U.S. manufacturing and accelerate job loss.” In January 2017, shortly after taking office as president, Trump declared the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a multilateral free trade agreement among 12 Asia-Pacific countries, including the U.S. and Japan, citing the protection of U.S. workers’ rights.

The Biden administration launched the IPEF in May last year to counter the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) led by China, with the participation of 14 countries, including South Korea, Japan, and India. It aims to go beyond trade-related agreements such as market opening and tariff reduction and jointly respond to new trade issues such as digital, clean energy, and supply chains. Negotiators have concluded agreements on supply chains, a clean economy, and a fair economy among the four areas. However, the trade agreement is facing difficulties reaching an agreement as some countries, including Vietnam and Indonesia, recently claimed that they cannot accept strict labor and environmental standards.

By. Jeong Hye Jin