The 14 countries participating in the US-led economic initiative – which also intends to counter China’s ever-growing influence – are aiming to prepare for shortages and shutdown of supply in semiconductors and important materials.

Countries participating in IPEF include the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia and Singapore. The meeting, due to take place in Los Angeles, will be held in-person for the first time, and US trade representative Katherine Tai and US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo are expected to attend. Japanese economy, trade and industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura is also expected at the conference.

Talks will be held on the framework’s four pillars: supply chain resiliency, clean energy and decarbonisation, tax and anti-corruption, and trade. Nations are preparing to publish a joint statement on the pillars that they choose to take part in. The US and Japan are expected to participate in all four.

According to the draft statement, nations will cooperate to quickly recover supply chains halted because of conflicts or the spread of diseases. Countries will also aim to strengthen supply chains by diversifying manufacturing locations and enabling more stockpiling through the better exchange of information among the countries, the draft states.

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, countries around the globe rushed to obtain masks and vaccines, sometimes competing against each other for supply. Disruption in supply chains worsened after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, triggering an acute price spike in natural gas and grains.

More recently, tensions surrounding Taiwan raised the spectre of another supply chain risk, heightening the need for allied countries to set up a framework for better cooperation.

With energy security in mind, the draft statement includes initiatives to help countries – such as those in Asean who use more fossil fuels than developed nations – shift to renewable energy.

In trade, countries are aiming to improve data transfer transparency and push for more custom procedures to be done online.

In tax and anti-corruption, the draft statement demands countries to comply with the tax treaty which avoids nations from double-taxing multinational enterprises.