KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia —The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) participated in the sixth in-person negotiating round for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from October 15-24, 2023.
The U.S. delegation was co-led by Sharon H. Yuan, U.S. Department of Commerce Counselor and IPEF Pillars II-IV Chief Negotiator, and Sarah Ellerman, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific and IPEF Pillar I Chief Negotiator.
Building on the discussions that took place during the fifth negotiating round in Bangkok, Thailand in September 2023, the IPEF partners continued to make progress on negotiations towards high-standard outcomes under Pillars I (Trade), III (Clean Economy), and IV (Fair Economy). Officials also continued discussions on next steps for the proposed IPEF Supply Chain Agreement (Pillar II) following substantial conclusion of negotiations in May and public release of the text on September 7th.
Prior to the sixth negotiating round in Kuala Lumpur, the U.S. Department of Commerce and USTR jointly held a virtual IPEF listening session on October 10 in Washington, D.C. This listening session presented an opportunity for stakeholders to provide thoughts and comments on the IPEF negotiations. The U.S. government IPEF chief negotiators, as well as other representatives from USTR and the U.S. Department of Commerce, attended this event. A second in-person listening session was held with the Government of Malaysia on October 19 for interested stakeholders. Read More→
https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2023/10/joint-us-department-commerce-and-ustr-readout-sixth-indo-pacific
