14 nations clinch deal to boost supply chains, counter China – Times of India

NEW DELHI:

In a breakthrough for the bloc that came up to reduce dependence on China, 14 countries, including the US, India, Australia, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia, have on Saturday announced “substantial conclusion of negotiations” on supply chain agreement under the Indo-Pacific Economic Partnership (IPEF).
The supply chain pillar is aimed at ensuring that the countries, which are part of IPEF, co-operate to deal with situations, such as, shortage of raw material to manufacture vaccines or medicines, as was the case during Covid, “including unnecessary restrictions and impediments to trade”.

Besides, countries can come together to work out solutions to tackle disruptions in semiconductor supply or shipping lines through an emergency communications network between the IPEF partners. A crisis response network is being put in place, along with a mechanism to map the suppliers and skilled manpower, in addition to helping countries mobilise investments.
A crucial element will be labour rights in the supply chain, which may raise some tensions in the coming years, although the details of the proposed agreement have not been made public.
The first deal was done just a year after leaders launched the initiative in Tokyo, with negotiations starting in the second half of 2022. The group is negotiating deals on four pillars, which also include clean economy, fair economy and trade, with India not engaged on the last one.
The IPEF initiative is seen to be the US government’s alliance with key Asian nations, some of which have had close links with China in the past but have now estranged relations.
“IPEF partners will undertake the necessary steps, including further domestic consultations and a legal review, to prepare a final text of the proposed agreement. Once finalised, the proposed agreement will be subject to IPEF partners’ domestic processes for signature, followed by ratification, acceptance, or approval,” a summary of talks after a meeting in Detroit said, indicating that the deal is as good as done.
Indian officials were unavailable to comment on the deal, although a statement was issued providing a broad outline. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal who participated in the meeting sought quick implementation “of all the action-oriented cooperative and collaborative elements identified” in the agreement, a statement said.
Progress on the other three pillars are seen to be more time consuming as they deal with more complex issues.