Biden favours global trade rules to counter China’s influence

US President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday the United States needed to negotiate with allies to set global trading rules to counter China’s growing influence but declined to say whether he would join a new China-backed Asian trade pact signed on Sunday. Asked at a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware, whether the United States would join the Asian-focused 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, Biden said he could not yet discuss US trade policy because he had not taken office “and there’s only one president at a time.”

“We make up 25% ... of the economy in the world,” Biden said of the United States. “We need to be aligned with the other democracies, another 25% or more so that we can set the rules of the road instead of having China and others dictate outcomes because they are the only game in town.” Biden said he had a detailed trade plan he would discuss on Jan. 21, 2021, the day after he is due to be sworn into office.

Biden said he had told leaders the United States would approach trade by insisting that Washington would “invest in American workers and make them more competitive,” make sure that labor and environmental interests were represented in any new trade negotiations and stop “poking our finger in the eyes of our friends.”