Biden unveils Indo-Pacific trade deal, warns over inflation

12 nations joining the US, are India, Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; They account for 40% of world GDP

Tokyo: President Joe Biden on Monday launched a new trade deal with 12 Indo-Pacific nations aimed at strengthening their economies as he warned Americans worried about high inflation that it was "going to be a haul" before they feel relief. The president said he does not believe an economic recession is inevitable in the U.S.

Biden, speaking at a news conference after holding talks with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, acknowledged the US economy has problems, but said they were "less consequential than the rest of the world has." He added: "This is going to be a haul. This is going to take some time," even as he rejected the idea a recession in the US was inevitable. The comments came just before Biden's launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a new trade deal his administration designed to signal US dedication to the contested economic sphere and to address the need for stability in commerce after disruptions caused by the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday joined US President Joe Biden in the launch of a US-initiated trade framework aimed at deeper cooperation among like-minded countries in areas like clean energy, supply-chain resilience and digital trade.