Biden formally unveiled the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) on his second day in Japan, where he is also holding talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before joining a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue summit on Tuesday.

"This framework is a commitment to working with our close friends and partners in the region on challenges that matter most to ensuring economic competitiveness in the 21st century," he said.

Unlike traditional trade blocs, there is no plan for IPEF members to negotiate tariffs and ease market access, a tool that has become increasingly unpalatable to US voters fearful of seeing homegrown manufacturing undermined.

Instead, the program foresees integrating partners through agreed standards in four main areas: the digital economy, supply chains, clean energy infrastructure and anticorruption measures.

The starting list of members, in addition to the United States, is Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

The countries touted the IPEF as a framework for what will ultimately become a tight-knit group of trading nations.

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