Thirteen countries in the Indo-Pacific region have joined the initiative, which indicates interest. But there are problems with the framework as presented that raise questions about its ability to succeed and endure.

The goal of the United States in creating the IPEF is to gain an asymmetric technological advantage over China and to create an environment for long-term competition. It wants a new rules-based Indo-Pacific order forged in its own image.

The country is confident that it will meet the emerging trade partnership’s high standards through reforms at home. But the U.S. and others may attempt to derail it through the “poison pill” clause of the USMCA.

U.S. policy-makers must recognize that the most productive path forward is not to maneuver into constant conflict with China but rather to concentrate on our own competitiveness, to restore a sense of national unity, and to re-emerge from the current political cycle as an example of an open market democracy that others are both willing and able to emulate.

Fading is the “mutually assured destruction” (MAD) defining of Cold War rivalries, as great power relations have marinated long enough in globalization to give way to a deep interdependence, one which lends itself more so to Mutually Assured Gains or “MAG”. Such is the case with U.S.-China relations, though the national-level of this relationship offers more of a precarious bag of mixed results.

Trump has articulated a vision for the Indo-Pacific. Has he thought it through?

China led the way on innovative cooperation at the APEC summit, as the U.S. and Japan faltered.

America’s attempts to contain China will fail, because, time and again, economics trumps politics.

Faced with a global economy in transition, we should uphold multilateralism, pursue shared growth through consultation and collaboration, forge closer partnerships, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Trump will be visiting China Nov 8-10 as part of Asia tour, White House has announced.