SAN FRANCISCO: President Joe Biden's administration signaled on Monday it would postpone a draft of an Asia trade pact that had been set to be unveiled at a summit in San Francisco, after facing domestic criticism. IPEF also includes Australia, South Korea and much of Southeast Asia, but notably not China, as the United States tries again to assert a leadership role in Asia. "Any trade deal that does not include enforceable labor standards is unacceptable," Brown said. The Democrats enjoy only a slender majority in the Senate, and some in the party fear IPEF could be a replay of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a more ambitious trade deal that former president Barack Obama pitched to Asian allies. Donald Trump denounced that deal as ignoring US workers' interests and pulled out immediately after entering the White House in 2017.

Source: Manila Times November 15, 2023 04:23 UTC