Biden Has a New U.S.-Asia Economic Initiative. He Should Do the Same with Latin America
Biden Has a New U.S.-Asia Economic Initiative. He Should Do the Same with Latin America
"The framework that was announced in Japan could offer a path forward for the hemisphere," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth to the Miami Herald.
During his May 23 visit to Tokyo, President Joe Biden announced the creation of a 13-country U.S.-Asian economic bloc, to be known as the Indo-Pacific Framework. So here’s an obvious question: Shouldn’t he propose creation of a similar U.S.-Latin American bloc when he hosts the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles on June 6?
The new Indo-Pacific economic bloc, known as IPEF, is expected to replace the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP,) a global trade initiative that included Asian and Latin American countries on the Pacific Rim. The Obama era’s TPP was a U.S. effort to counter China’s growing economic influence in the world, but, in 2017, President Donald Trump foolishly pulled the United States out of it. […]
“The framework that was announced in Japan could offer a path forward for the hemisphere," says Eric Farnsworth, head of the Washington, D.C., office of The Council of the Americas, a business-focused group. “It defines a framework of economic cooperation and trade, which is precisely what the hemisphere is requesting from Washington.”
Farnsworth added that the upcoming Summit of the Americas has been hijacked by the discussion over Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua’s attendance, “But that’s only because there were no meaningful U.S. economic initiatives to discuss in the first place.” As I warned in January, the Biden administration should have started working on this many months ago. Unfortunately, whether because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine or lack of interest, it didn’t. […]
