David Brunnstrom, Ju-min Park, and Michael Martina

WASHINGTON/TOKYO – This month’s US President Joe Biden visit to Japan will coincide with the official launch of a U.S. Economic Strategy for the Indo-Pacific. Even as China attempts to “very aggressively”, to fill the void left by Washington leaving a regional trading pact in place, Tokyo’s Ambassador to the United States stated Monday.

Koji Tomita explained to a virtual meeting hosted by Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, that Japan and America had been working together on details for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. He said the framework, which he stated, must strike a balance of inclusivity and high standards.

Asian nations are eager to strengthen ties with America, but they have found it difficult for the United States to detail plans for economic engagement since Trump renounced a 2017 regional trade agreement.

Biden will be visiting South Korea and Japan between May 20 and May 24. Last year, he announced that the IPEF plan was being implemented. In February, Biden announced his strategy for the Indo-Pacific area. It stated that the goal was to launch it by early 2022.

Tomita claimed that Biden’s visit to Indo-Pacific would signal the United States is focused on this region despite its conflict with Ukraine.

This is more than a simple message. He said that he believed the visit would establish very clearly that Japan and America are both ready to take a leading role in economic and social development in the wider Indo-Pacific region.

Tomita pointed out that Biden’s visit will include a summit meeting with the Quad grouping consisting of Australia, Japan and Australia, which is an important tool for this purpose.

“Also I expect the visit to coincide with the official launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework initiative from the United States. “And we’re now working to develop the ideas contained within this initiative,” he said.

Tomita claimed that America’s withdrawal from what was now called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPATP) was a defeat and China was aggressively trying to replace it.

He said that there was a compromise between inclusivity and high standards when you have a regional economic forum. This is what he meant by IPEF. Both are necessary, but it is important to find the balance.

The U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, told the same forum IPEF needed to be inclusive, but also have high enough standards that it wouldn’t be “a race to the bottom economically.”

Biden’s administration ignores calls for CPTPP resumption out of concern about U.S. employment. This has resulted in smaller Asian countries being frustrated by the unwillingness to grant them greater market access through IPEF.

Biden is scheduled to welcome Southeast Asian leaders during a summit in Washington, Thursday and Friday.