Japan welcomes new US Indo-Pacific economic initiative

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is welcoming a new U.S. economic initiative for the Indo-Pacific that President Joe Biden is expected to roll out during a visit to Tokyo next week because it demonstrates American commitment to a regional economic order that is not just about market access. Biden is proposing the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership which the United States dropped out of in 2017 under former President Donald Trump. While details of the new initiative are still to be discussed in Tokyo, Japan has already expressed its support and says it is considering joining. A Japanese Cabinet official says the new pact is expected to focus more on supply chains, clean energy, worker standards and anti-corruption than market access and tariffs.