New Delhi hosted IPEF special negotiating round on 3 Pillars, Bali to host Round 2 on all 4 Pillars

On 8-11 February 2023, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry hosted a special negotiating round covering three out of four Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Pillars: IPEF Pillars II (Supply Chains), III (Clean Economy), and IV (Fair Economy). It has been reported that India has decided to stay out of the Pillar 1 (Trade) for now as there has been no broad consensus on issues like labor, environment, digital trade, and public procurement. All IPEF partners tabled negotiating text under Pillars II-IV in New Delhi, building on previous discussions in Brisbane, Australia. India Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal urged focus on “early harvest of deliverables which can benefit all the members” and shared his views on some of the common tangible benefits like capacity building; technical assistance, including sharing of expertise and best practices; investments, and innovative projects expected out of this initiative. Negotiating teams took negotiating texts back for domestic review and some decisions are expected to be made public at the upcoming Bali negotiating round on March 13-18. The U.S. could propose text on the framework’s digital trade element at the next round. Many groups called for greater transparency during virtual stakeholder listening sessions hosted by the United States.