TOKYO -- On Monday, May 23, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai hosted a virtual meeting of the Ministers from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to build on the momentum of today’s launch of the Framework by President Biden and discuss next steps with IPEF partners. IPEF is a 21st-century economic arrangement that will seek to tackle the 21st-century economic challenges shared by the United States and its allies and partners in the region, ranging from setting the rules for the digital economy to ensuring secure and resilient supply chains to managing the energy transition to investing in quality, modern infrastructure.  

Following the meeting, Secretary Raimondo released the following statement:  

“Today is an exciting day with the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework by President Biden and his counterparts. In our first meeting, Ambassador Tai and I engaged in positive and productive discussions with our counterparts on concrete steps that the United States and its IPEF partners will undertake quickly going forward to craft a framework that benefits our workers and businesses and allows them to better compete in the region.” 

Following the meeting, Ambassador Tai released the following statement: 

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity is part of President Biden’s broad strategy to deepen our ties in the region and link major and emerging economies to tackle 21st-century challenges. Today’s meeting begins the next phase of our robust engagement with leaders in this region and we will continue our discussions to create a fairer, more resilient economy for families, workers, and businesses in the United States and here in the Indo-Pacific.