The Indo Pacific-Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting in Detroit

After the successful launch of the Indo Pacific-Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in May 2022, IPEF partners have worked constructively and have held four rounds of in-person negotiations, several virtual inter-sessional meetings, and numerous bilateral meetings. On May 27, 2023, Trade Ministers from the 14 IPEF partner countries announced the substantial conclusion in negotiating a Supply Chain Agreement at the IPEF Ministerial Meeting in Detroit. This is the first multi-country arrangement to strengthen the resilience and connectivity of supply chains through collective and individual actions.The IPEF partners will undertake the necessary steps including further domestic consultations and a legal review to prepare a final text of the proposed Supply Chain Agreement. Once finalized, the proposed framework will be subject to IPEF partners’ domestic processes for signature, followed by ratification, acceptance, or approval. Under the agreement, IPEF partners will carry out nine efforts. Three coordination bodies will be established to advance cooperation among IPEF countries including Supply Chain Council, Crisis Response Network, and tripartite Labor Rights Advisory Board. Moreover, there will be seven agendas in total to support the goals of the proposed framework.The Ministers also introduced a regional hydrogen initiative to encourage the widespread deployment of low-carbon and renewable hydrogen, and its derivatives in the Indo-Pacific region by drawing upon expertise from both the public and private sectors. The other three IPEF pillars on trade, climate transition, and fare economy are more complex and expected to take longer to negotiate, but more significant results are aimed by the time of the APEC leaders’ summit in San Francisco in November. The latest official progress on the trade pillar, clean economy pillar, and fair economy pillar were summarized in the press statement by the Department of Commerce.