Members of a U.S.-led Indo-Pacific trade framework are arranging for their leaders to gather and issue a joint statement next week in San Francisco, with the focus on strengthening their economic ties in the face of China's assertiveness in the region, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The statement will be made at the summit meeting on Nov. 16, and is slated to be the first from the 14 members' leaders since the trade initiative, officially called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, began negotiations in September last year.
The members are expected to agree on deepening economic ties for prosperity in a "free and open" Indo-Pacific, the sources said.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are among the expected participants, although their attendance is still being finalized due to an overlap with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit taking place in the U.S. city in the same week.
Prior to the summit, a signing ceremony by ministers from the member countries on supply chain cooperation will be held on Tuesday, according to the sources.
While there will be further discussion on topics including digital trade in the future, the leaders want to reach a broad agreement, the sources said.
Launched in May last year, the IPEF members have focused on crafting rules on four pillars -- fair trade, supply chain resilience, clean energy, and proper taxation along with anti-corruption efforts.
A ministerial meeting in May this year in Detroit saw the members agree to strengthen supply chain resilience for critical items such as semiconductors and medicines to respond more promptly to emergencies, with the signing to be held at the San Francisco event.
A two-day ministerial meeting from Monday will address remaining issues.
The IPEF also groups Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
