Indo-Pacific trade talks to launch soon, Australia's Tehan says

WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - Nations working to build a new Indo-Pacific economic framework are likely to officially launch their talks in the next couple of months, according to Australia's trade chief.

Digital trade will be a key part of the pact that Australia plans to pursue with the US and other nations in the region, Trade Minister Dan Tehan said in an interview in Washington on Tuesday (March 29).

The government hopes that it will draw on the country's deal with Singapore, aspects of e-commerce work at the World Trade Organisation and the US-Mexico-Canada agreement, Mr Tehan said.

The Biden administration earlier this month asked for public comments on four pillars for the framework: fair and resilient trade; supply chains resiliency, including semiconductors and technology; clean energy decarbonisation and infrastructure; and taxation and anti-corruption.

For the US, the negotiation is being co-chaired by the Department of Commerce and the office of the US Trade Representative.

Ministers from the nations that have expressed interest - including the US, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, with outreach to Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand - have been looking at opportunities to meet in April or May, Mr Tehan said.

"There's numerous aspects" to the framework, Mr Tehan said. "We've just got to be able to sit down and work out, 'OK, what is the exact detail? What is the exact shape the framework would look like?' It's a bit more than a conversation, it's almost going to be a negotiation amongst all those ministers who want to be involved."

The Biden administration has made clear that it isn't rejoining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership after then-president Donald Trump abandoned an earlier version of the deal.

The framework won't be a traditional trade deal in that it won't include market access commitments, according to the Biden administration.

Mr Tehan also said that Australia is close to finalising a free trade agreement with India, and that the nation plans to announce further sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine later this week.

Mr Tehan was scheduled to meet with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Tuesday and with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Wednesday.