US Should Look South, Not Far East, on Trade: Shannon O’Neil

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a 14-country effort to deepen economic ties with Asia, has become the Biden administration ’ s signature trade initiative. Yet as regional agreements go, the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), its Latin American complement, holds greater potential. If the US government truly wants to shift trade and secure supply chains, it should zero in on the economies closer to home.

Launched within two weeks of one another, the two trading and investment frameworks are both responses to China’s play for global influence. Both bring together a good number of countries: IPEF counts ...