India, other nations lag in worker-centric trade agenda

Washington: Several countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including India, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are not suited to meet a worker-centric trade agenda, a group of influential American lawmakers has told the Biden administration, as they demanded a robust engagement with the Congress on the recently announced Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

The lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, in a letter addressed to several Cabinet members of the Biden administration, said that "countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand are not suited at this time to meet the objectives or standards that must be at the heart of any pact that will qualify as promoting the worker-centered trade agenda."

The letter sent to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called for robust consultation with the Congress and outside stakeholders on the recently announced Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP).

The lawmakers said that the Biden administration should learn from the failures of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).