In a speech in Washington, President Joe Biden is continuing his efforts to consolidate the alliance to renew the strength of the United States in the world and form a coalition of like-minded nations to meet the challenges from China.

However, some experts here insist that there is a major gap in his Asian strategy-lack of a framework for economic and trade issues. This is the focus of our main work today.

Charter waters It will find a new source of anxiety for global shippers.

A sound trade agenda is vital to Asian allies

Gone are the days when Donald Trump’s flexible approach frustrated American allies. When the leaders of the Group of Seven nations meet in the UK next month, German Chancellor Merkel can rest assured that Joe Biden will not follow Trump. Trump threw candy across the Canadian G7 in 2018 and said: “Angela, don’t say I won’t give you anything.”

In the first three months of his presidency, Biden convened the first Quad Leaders Summit-composed of the United States, Japan, India and Australia. His first foreign visitor to the White House was Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and his second guest will be South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

In the Indo-Pacific region, following China’s aggressive military activities in Taiwan, he has taken actions to support Taiwan and persuaded Britain, Canada and the European Union to join forces to impose sanctions on China’s persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. .

Many of his actions reassure allies, especially in the security field. However, partners from Japan to Australia worry about one thing: his Asian strategy lacks a strong trade and economic component.

Wendy Cutler, now a former senior US trade negotiator at the Asia Society, told me that this is a matter of serious concern.

“We can do all the right things with our allies and partners in Asia, but if we do not have a sound economic and trade agenda, we will not succeed. Cutler said. “They attach great importance to this aspect of the relationship between the two countries, and they very much hope to see the United States put a specific market opening plan on the table. “

Ryan Hass, ” Stronger: Adapting to the US’s China strategy in an era of interdependence and competitionHe believes that dealing with China is crucial, and China is urging other countries to get closer in order to benefit from China’s rise.??

Haas said: “The United States and its partners need to come up with a saleable option.” “The existence of an aircraft carrier or destroyer will not prove the type of value that many US allies and partners are most seeking.”

President Barack Obama made definite arguments when he urged Congress to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (a huge trade agreement signed by 12 Pacific Rim countries) in 2016 . The policy was led by Kurt Campbell, who is now Biden’s top advisor to the White House in Asia. But Obama failed to convince lawmakers that Trump withdrew from the agreement in his first month in office.

The other 11 countries reorganized the agreement and changed its name to the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” (CPTPP).However, as a trade secret Written in February, The United States is unlikely to join the CPTPP in the next few years. The reason is that domestic political considerations arising from trade are represented by four letters. Some experts worry that as other countries, including China, become interested in signing contracts, the United States will be left behind.

In an interview at the Financial Times’ global board meeting last week, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai opposed the idea that Biden has no strong economic component in his Asian strategy. But she said that he will adopt a new way of trading, which she calls a “worker-centered” policy.

Tai told me: “This really requires changing our past habits and our muscle memory.” “This will require our partners to keep pace with us in innovation and creativity, and re-enact policies so that we can work together to raise standards. And increase opportunities for us and our partner countries and their workers.”

Dai emphasized that the Biden team must study why transactions such as TPP that were promoted in the past to promote trade liberalization ended in a “very fragile political” status.

“We need to re-examine what agreements such as TPP have become so fragile here, and re-enact our policies… Tai continued. We continue to interact with our partners, but follow policy reforms so that we can interact with These very important commitments undertaken by partners will not disappear, and will be more lasting and sustainable.”

Some experts urge Biden to agree on a digital trade agreement to solve problems such as data localization. Compared with a comprehensive free trade agreement, this method may be less politically controversial in the United States. Dai raised the issue of digitization in some dialogues with his colleagues.

A senior U.S. official admitted that the allies raised concerns about the economic component of the Indo-Pacific strategy. “We often talk about this issue in a more negative light, but the reality is that people are full of desire and appetite for U.S. participation…. The official said that he warned that in terms of policy development, this is still “very One day earlier”.

But the political situation is complicated. Before the 2022 midterm elections, Biden realized that Democrats accounted for only a small percentage of Congress and that he would not be able to afford the loss if he wanted to promote his “rebuild better” agenda. He knows that Trump, who effectively uses trade advantages, may run for president in 2024.

A person in contact with the Biden team said: “There is a real desire not to draw a big bullseye for Trump’s people behind the White House in 2022 and 2024.” “But to prevent Trump. Putting this issue into action… The White House has also just undermined our needs. At some point, some price will have to be paid.”

Chartered waters

First is the West Coast route from East Asia to the United States, and then the route from East Asia to Europe. Now, these are shippers who use the transatlantic route between Northern Europe and the east coast of the United States, and they are seeing a surge in container freight costs.

We asked Emile Naus, a consultant from BearingPoint Consulting, what was the reason for the soaring container freight rate:

Shipping companies withdrew their services to save costs, and the flow of empty containers has been greatly reduced. By the end of 2020, after freight volumes rebounded, the shortage of containers and ships put pressure on prices and caused shipping companies to prioritize key services. After the Suez Canal was blocked, European port congestion further affected the transatlantic and Asia-Europe shipping.

Naus also told us that shippers, port operators and shipping companies are increasingly skeptical about when these supply chain bottlenecks will be eased. Many people now predict that the market will be turbulent for the rest of 2021, and cost and service issues will be severe.?? serious. Claire Jones

Trade ties

The news from Taiwan this morning is worrying.Kathrin Hille reports that a series of local Covid-19 cases has led to A sharp decline Earlier today it ranked first in the island’s high-tech stock index.Worryingly, new restrictions related to the pandemic will delay production TSMC, The world’s largest chip manufacturer. Ordinary readers know that Chip shortage It is now causing various problems in the global supply chain. However, we want to emphasize that despite the impact on productivity, manufacturers around the world have been able to quickly adapt to this pandemic and keep their premises functioning.

At the same time, our excellent Korean team Ed?? White and Song Jung-a Look in Samsung’s ambition Maintain a leading position in manufacturing high-end chips. They are under pressure from the United States and China.

Unwelcome opinion alert.Our European Editor Ben Hall Say The EU has been unfairly ridiculed for its vaccine policy.

Lord David Frost, Minister of the British Government in charge of trade relations with the European Union widely accepted Anyone who has been following Brexit for a long time knows: Northern Ireland Agreement As far as the current form is concerned, it will not be “long-term”. Of course, this is Frost, who played a key role in negotiating the deal.

Nikkei report ($, subscription required), depends on Hotan Ford, General Motors and Tesla’s Taiwanese auto parts suppliers will open their first factories in the United States because it believes that demand for electric vehicles will continue to accelerate.

Tensions between Beijing and Stockholm Huawei Getting hotter. The Global Times is part of China’s national media organization, report The Chinese ambassador to Stockholm said that Sweden faces the “last chance” of Ericsson’s destiny in China. The Scandinavian country’s refusal to allow Huawei to participate in its 5G rollout has angered Beijing. Claire Jones

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