Why in the news-

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, virtually took part in IPEF’s (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework) 1st Ministerial meeting in 2024, along with other IPEF partners.

What is the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)?

It is a US-led initiative that aims to strengthen economic partnerships among participating countries to enhance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
The IPEF was launched in 2021 with 12 initial partners who together represent 40% of the world GDP.
The IPEF is NOT a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) but allows members to negotiate the parts they want to.

Trade that will include digital economy and emerging technology, labor commitments, the environment, trade facilitation, transparency and good regulatory practices, and corporate accountability, standards on cross-border data flow and data localisations;
Supply chain resilience to develop “a first-of-its-kind supply chain agreement” that would anticipate and prevent disruptions;
Clean energy and decarbonization that will include agreements on “high-ambition commitments” such as renewable energy targets, carbon removal purchasing commitments, energy efficiency standards, and new measures to combat methane emissions; and
Fair Economy Agreement, with commitments to enact and enforce “effective tax, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery schemes in line with [American] values”.

Currently, India and 13 countries other located in the Pacific Ocean are its members: Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam.

No market access or tariff reductions have been outlined in the IPEF, although experts say it can pave the way to trade deals.
It’s not a take-it-or-leave-it arrangement, like most multilateral trade deals are.
Since the IPEF is not a regular trade pact, the members so far are not obligated by all four pillars despite being signatories.

Regarding the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), consider the following statements:

How many of the given statements is/are correct?

(a) One

(b) Two

(d) None