An ag trade consultant says the path forward on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is unclear following a meeting on the initiative in mid-November.

“I expect the U.S. government is trying to figure out how to move forward and hopefully, they can.”

Sharon Bomer-Lauritsen says the 14 countries involved couldn’t come to agreement on strong environmental and labor provisions, which puts the framework on hold.

“The decision the Biden administration made was to not conclude negotiations and all of the countries agreed to continue the discussions.”

She says that might be difficult in an election year and it’s unclear if there will ever be an agreement on the trade pillar of the framework, the portion that would affect U.S.

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