Gunny
01-31-2022, 09:36 AM
Plan ... :cuckoo: Looks like Joke is going to have to screw some of his voters, one way or the other. If I had to bet money, I'd bet it on nothing being done but throwing words at the problem until after the midterms when he can then blame the GOP for his failure. Another one. Again.
Joke Biden says that America’s greatest long-term challenge overseas comes from China. Confronting Beijing is the work of generations, he argues. It’s the battle that your grandchildren will study in college: Will democracy or autocracy prevail across the globe?
The fight for economic superiority in Asia is a critical component of this contest. But 13 months into the Biden presidency, the administration’s plan for competing in the region consists of a single 51-word paragraph. In an October statement (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/27/readout-of-president-bidens-participation-in-the-east-asia-summit/), Biden announced he would create what he calls an “Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.” When asked now about Biden’s plans to take on China’s economy, administration officials still refer to the October description of the framework. They say they are only at the start of a months-long process to develop an Asian economic plan — but as yet, that paragraph is the closest thing to a public strategy that the White House has announced.What is the framework exactly?
The paragraph lists a half-dozen topics where the U.S. will seek agreements with Asian nations, including on infrastructure, climate and digital technology. But so far, the White House has not released any supporting documents or held any press briefings to explain its plans, and Biden officials acknowledge they haven’t come up with specific proposals yet.
A one-page White House memo from the fall labeled “USG Talking Points for Foreign Partners (https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017e-a2cf-db8b-ab7f-f2df7f060000)” — which has not been previously reported — makes clear what the framework isn’t, however. It’s not a free-trade deal and it won’t give Asian nations broader access to U.S. markets through tariff cuts or other concessions. “IF RAISED” in discussions with foreign governments, the memo instructs American diplomats in capital letters, “To be clear, this initiative will not include new market access commitments.”
Biden’s China policy captures the bind the administration finds itself in. The post-Trump politics of trade make it politically treacherous to push to open up the American market abroad. Biden’s narrow win in the Rust Belt was based partly on his promise that he’d protect American jobs, which means keeping a strict lid on foreign competition. But that political red line is also a big handicap in the race with Beijing. Those are exactly the commitments Asian nations say they need to export more to America and limit their dependence on China.
One Biden aide said a vague proposal was the only way that squabbling officials could come to a public consensus.
“They’re paralyzed,” says Derek Scissors, a China expert at the American Enterprise Institute who has long pushed for an aggressive U.S. stance in Asia. “They know there is something important they need to do, but the people involved don’t have the nerve to do anything.”
Be patient, counter a raft of administration officials and their supporters on Capitol Hill. Biden always intended to work first on domestic policies, including investments that will help the U.S. compete with China, before moving into trade issues, they say. Interagency work on the framework will kick into high gear over the next six weeks. Officials are planning a public release of a fuller version of the framework by March 31, although that could slip.
“President Biden doesn’t just say that this is the challenge of this century,” says Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, a close Biden ally from Delaware. “He is acting on it and focusing on it.”
But with the administration also split into factions, the politics of trade are thornier than ever. Biden is hemmed in between what voters at home expect and what overseas allies want. The consequence, according to a series of interviews with Biden officials, lawmakers, diplomats, Hill aides and advocates, is that efforts to create a pan-Asian plan to elbow China aside have barely moved at all.
continued @ https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/01/31/biden-china-trade-politics-00003379
Joke Biden says that America’s greatest long-term challenge overseas comes from China. Confronting Beijing is the work of generations, he argues. It’s the battle that your grandchildren will study in college: Will democracy or autocracy prevail across the globe?
The fight for economic superiority in Asia is a critical component of this contest. But 13 months into the Biden presidency, the administration’s plan for competing in the region consists of a single 51-word paragraph. In an October statement (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/27/readout-of-president-bidens-participation-in-the-east-asia-summit/), Biden announced he would create what he calls an “Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.” When asked now about Biden’s plans to take on China’s economy, administration officials still refer to the October description of the framework. They say they are only at the start of a months-long process to develop an Asian economic plan — but as yet, that paragraph is the closest thing to a public strategy that the White House has announced.What is the framework exactly?
The paragraph lists a half-dozen topics where the U.S. will seek agreements with Asian nations, including on infrastructure, climate and digital technology. But so far, the White House has not released any supporting documents or held any press briefings to explain its plans, and Biden officials acknowledge they haven’t come up with specific proposals yet.
A one-page White House memo from the fall labeled “USG Talking Points for Foreign Partners (https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017e-a2cf-db8b-ab7f-f2df7f060000)” — which has not been previously reported — makes clear what the framework isn’t, however. It’s not a free-trade deal and it won’t give Asian nations broader access to U.S. markets through tariff cuts or other concessions. “IF RAISED” in discussions with foreign governments, the memo instructs American diplomats in capital letters, “To be clear, this initiative will not include new market access commitments.”
Biden’s China policy captures the bind the administration finds itself in. The post-Trump politics of trade make it politically treacherous to push to open up the American market abroad. Biden’s narrow win in the Rust Belt was based partly on his promise that he’d protect American jobs, which means keeping a strict lid on foreign competition. But that political red line is also a big handicap in the race with Beijing. Those are exactly the commitments Asian nations say they need to export more to America and limit their dependence on China.
One Biden aide said a vague proposal was the only way that squabbling officials could come to a public consensus.
“They’re paralyzed,” says Derek Scissors, a China expert at the American Enterprise Institute who has long pushed for an aggressive U.S. stance in Asia. “They know there is something important they need to do, but the people involved don’t have the nerve to do anything.”
Be patient, counter a raft of administration officials and their supporters on Capitol Hill. Biden always intended to work first on domestic policies, including investments that will help the U.S. compete with China, before moving into trade issues, they say. Interagency work on the framework will kick into high gear over the next six weeks. Officials are planning a public release of a fuller version of the framework by March 31, although that could slip.
“President Biden doesn’t just say that this is the challenge of this century,” says Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, a close Biden ally from Delaware. “He is acting on it and focusing on it.”
But with the administration also split into factions, the politics of trade are thornier than ever. Biden is hemmed in between what voters at home expect and what overseas allies want. The consequence, according to a series of interviews with Biden officials, lawmakers, diplomats, Hill aides and advocates, is that efforts to create a pan-Asian plan to elbow China aside have barely moved at all.
continued @ https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/01/31/biden-china-trade-politics-00003379