Inside Trade

November 1, 2025

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework news

IPEF members hold minerals-focused supply chain drill as U.S. remains silent on its role

South Korea on Wednesday hosted a critical minerals-focused supply chain crisis exercise under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, a Biden administration initiative that President Trump once vowed to kill – and one his administration won’t talk about. The exercise was run under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement’s Crisis Response Network, which acts as the “control tower for rapid information-sharing, policy coordination, and collective action during disruptions,” the Korean trade ministry said in an Oct. 22 statement ahead of the...

Indonesia accepts IPEF Supply Chain Agreement

Indonesia last week accepted the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity’s Supply Chain Agreement, leaving the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei as the only member countries yet to do so. The supply chain agreement enters into force in Indonesia on Dec. 20, according to a list maintained by the State Department, the IPEF depositary. Indonesia gave State its instrument of acceptance on Nov. 20. The agreement entered into force for the U.S., Fiji, India, Japan and Singapore on Feb. 24. It then...

House Oversight chair: FTC’s Khan ‘pressured’ Tai on digital trade

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan is leveraging Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity negotiations to advance an “anti-business” agenda, the chair of the House Oversight Committee alleges in a new report, charging that the FTC “pressured” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on digital trade. Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) on Thursday published a nearly 60-page staff report , titled “The Federal Trade Commission Under Chair Lina Khan: Undue Biden-Harris White House Influence and Sweeping Destruction of Agency Norms,” that takes...

Commerce official heads to Vietnam for talks on IPEF, digital trade

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets Arun Venkatarama will travel to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for meetings with Vietnamese officials on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and on digital policies that can boost bilateral trade, the Commerce Department announced on Friday. Venkataraman will meet officials from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Trade, Public Security, Planning and Investment, Information and Communications, National Defense, as well as officials on Vietnam’s Central Economic Committee, Commerce said in...

White House official: U.S. should ‘test’ more sectoral deals, expand IPEF sweeteners

The U.S. should deepen trade ties with countries that take similar approaches to standards and trade by negotiating sectoral-specific trade agreements in key industries, Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh said on Thursday, outlining a slew of economic and industrial policy ideas including new incentives to secure additional buy-in for the administration’s Indo-Pacific framework. “We really should have economic partnerships in which we're giving access to our productive capacity and our purchasing power to countries that are playing by the...

Modi to present India’s IPEF ratifications during trip to U.S.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this weekend will bring India’s instruments of ratification for the clean and fair economy pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, as well the overarching IPEF agreement, to Wilmington, DE, where he will meet with President Biden and other leaders of the Quad countries, India’s foreign secretary said on Thursday. Biden will welcome Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to his home in Wilmington for a Quad leader’s...

IPEF partners to issue plans for semiconductor, chemicals, mineral supply chains

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity partners have agreed to focus on the semiconductor, chemical and critical minerals sectors as initial areas to be addressed by the IPEF Supply Chain Council, the Commerce Department said following the group’s first in-person meeting last week, with health care named as another near-term priority. Under the terms of the Supply Chain Agreement, members of the Supply Chain Council – which is chaired by the U.S. – identify critical sectors and goods for further examination...

IPEF Clean Economy Agreement will enter into force next month

Singapore on Wednesday became the fifth Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity member to certify to the U.S. State Department that it has ratified the IPEF Clean Economy Agreement, starting a 30-day clock toward entry into force. The country also became the fourth member to deposit an instrument of ratification for the Fair Economy Agreement and the fifth to do so for the overarching IPEF agreement. Under IPEF rules, five countries must ratify or accept the individual framework deals before they...

IPEF Crisis Response Network to meet Sept. 13 for joint exercises, stress tests

A network created under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity’s supply chain pillar to foster collaboration during supply chain disruptions will hold a first in-person meeting on Sept. 13, when members will simulate and stress-test responses. At the meeting of the IPEF Crisis Response Network, to be held in Washington, DC, member countries will participate in “joint simulation exercises and stress tests” and unveil a “roadmap” of key initiatives to strengthen “global crisis response capabilities,” the Korean Ministry of Economy...

U.S., other IPEF countries look to preserve it amid uncertainty

The next U.S. administration will be faced with a decision on how to proceed with President Biden’s keystone economic and investment plan for Asia, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity -- and the 14 member countries are hoping that implementing the deal will help preserve it. The 13 U.S. partners in IPEF are worried about the fate of the agreement, say industry sources closely following the framework’s implementation. Former President Trump has said that if he is re-elected in November,...

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