Well, the US is set to host economic talks with Asian nations to counter China's influence in the Indo Pacific region, joining US to discusses Eric Martin Bloomberg, Trade and Economy Reporter. So it's called IPAF. Eric, it's supposed to start in l A on Thursday. Just tell us the nations that are coming in and what i PAF is trying to achieve here. Yes, this is thirteen nations plus the US. We have some of the members of the Group of
twenty largest economies, including India, Japan, South Korea, Australia. And on the menu is trade cooperation and integration. This is an initiative that the US is leading and organizing and uh negotiating with these countries. And this is continent, a unaway replacement for the Trans Pacific Partnership that was abandoned by President Trump in the early days of his administration. Eric, are we actually expecting anything tangible to come through from this?
You know that the likes of reducing tariffs or or a traditional free trade agreement. Also one thing that we know is not on the menu in terms of the options being currently negotiated. This idea of reciprocal tariff reduction, which has been a goal of US free trade agreement negotiation since MASTA in the early nine nineties. And so the question as well, if they're not talking about reducing tariffs,
what are they talking about. Well, they're looking at regulatory cooperation, renewable energy promotion, UH, fair trade initiatives that that take care of labor and workers, and and just looking at ways to be kind of standard setting indiando Pacific and in Asia as a way to be present and to be asserting US leadership in the presence of China and really in competition with China. That's kind of the larger,
the larger subtext here. Uh, this is coming after we saw relations with China and the U s to terrior right over Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. I guess just how much importance is the US really trying to place on on ensuring that it has enough allies in the region. Well, you know that that definitely is important. We saw I believe it was earlier today, UH National Security Advisor Jake Olivan mentioning concern about the potential for Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
So this is definitely something that the Biden administration is uh, you know, is aware of and is watchful for. Uh. Actually, Taiwan is not among the the governments that is present at these negotiations. The US is is undertaking its own framework separately with Taiwan, and a lot of the governments are are signaling that they don't want to be asked to choose between the US and China, that they really want to be able to work with both, with both
countries as partners. And so there's kind of an aversion to uh, you know, to being asked in any way or signaling uh you know, with US or against this type of attitude with the world to geopolitical superpowers. Yeah. Just very finally and quickly, uh, the impact of climate change here, I mean HUSSLANDA was talking with John Carey earlier in the week, the envoy saying that this is like fighting a war. I was speaking to the Singapore Minister for Trade and Energy as well, and he said
this is something that that nations need to combine on here. Well, absolutely, you know, renewable energy fighting climate change are two goals
for the Buying administration. We have the immediate reminder here in Los Angeles undergoing a nearly unprecedented heat wave with the danger of potential rolling blackouts even on these days when the ministers are here in l A. So you know, climate change, one of the great challenges of our times ever present, as Minister is prepared to meet here tomorrow and California avoiding those rolling blackouts are at Eric, thank you very much. Eric Martin, Bloomberg Trade and Economy Reporter,