Biden launches Indo-Pacific trade deal, warns over inflation

The president said he does not believe an economic recession is inevitable in the U.S.

His comments came just before Biden’s launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

The countries said in a joint statement that the pact will help them collectively “prepare our economies for the future” after the fallout from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The White House said the framework will help the United States and Asian economies work more closely on issues including supply chains, digital trade, clean energy, worker protections and anticorruption efforts.

Kishida welcomed the new Biden trade pact but said he still hoped the president would reconsider the United States’ position and return it to the Trans-Pacific pact that Trump withdrew from.

“The fact that the United States will grow faster than China this year, for the first time since 1976, is a quite striking example of how countries in this region should be looking at the question of trends and trajectories,” said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

The White House said Biden “expressed his deepest condolences for their suffering, and called on North Korea to right this historic wrong and provide a full accounting of the 12 Japanese nationals who remain missing.”.

The launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, also known as IPEF, has been billed by the White House as one of the bigger moments of Biden’s Asia trip and of his ongoing effort to bolster ties with Pacific allies.

wants to deepen its economic partnership with Taiwan, including on high technology issues and semiconductor supply on a one-to-one basis.

Biden also issued a stern warning to China over Taiwan, saying the U.S.

recognizes Beijing as the one government of China and doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Biden’s comments drew a sharp response from China, which has claimed Taiwan to be a rogue province

A White House official said Biden’s comments did not reflect a policy shift