President-elect Joe Biden said yesterday that he believes the US needs to further align with other global democracies so that it is America that can write the rules on worldwide trade, and not China. His warning comes the day after 15 Asia-Pacific countries signed an historic free trade agreement that does not include Washington. Together the bloc accounts for about 30% of the world's gross domestic product.
Biden was asked whether the US should consider joining the partnership ‘instead of having China and others dictate outcomes because they are the only game in town’. Biden said ‘We make up 25% of the world's trading capacity, of the economy of the world. We need to be aligned with the other democracies, another 25% or more, so that we can set the rules of the road’ adding ‘I promise you I have a pretty thorough plan, and I will be prepared to announce that to you on Jan. 21’, the day after his inauguration.
The soon to be President’s remarks Monday were consistent with his messaging on the election campaign regarding the need to restore America’s leadership, including on trade. However, the 77-year-old has also said he will not jump into new trade negotiations before working on the pandemic and investing in American competitiveness.
He laid out three prerequisites for any new trade deals the U.S. sets out to make. First ‘We're going to invest in American workers and make them more competitive," he said. "No. 2, we're going to make sure that labour is at the table and environmentalists are at the table in any trade deals we make." Lastly, in a swipe at Trump’s approach to trade and international relations, he stated ‘I'm not looking for punitive trade. The idea that we are poking our finger in the eyes of our friends and embracing autocrats makes no sense to me’.