The US administration and 13 partner countries from Asia and the Pacific are close to reaching agreements on renewable energy and anti-corruption measures, while they have not been able to reach an agreement on thorny trade issues.
Jose Fernandez, undersecretary of State for economic growth, energy and Environment, said in an interview on Wednesday that “we are close” to reaching an agreement on two main pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework initiative, which includes these issues, Bloomberg News reported.
“We have made great progress,” Fernandez added.
The talks on the “Indo-Pacific Economic Framework” Agreement are taking place as US President Joe Biden hosts US partners at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, the first time such a gathering has taken place in the United States since 2011.
The economic framework represents Biden’s efforts to counter the growing influence of China, whose President Xi Jinping met on Wednesday.
This marks America’s most significant economic involvement in the region since former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2017, although it does not reduce tariffs like a traditional Free Trade Agreement.
Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell expressed similar optimism as Fernandez regarding the Clean Energy and anti-corruption pillars.
“Good progress has been made,”Farrell said, in an interview in San Francisco.
Farrell added: “I hope that over the next couple of days we will be able to finish it and make some statements .”
