The 12-country group will negotiate agreements on supply-chain cooperation, labour standards, and development financing. The other members so far are Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Uruguay. (The Logic)

Talking point: The new APEP mirrors a regional bloc the Biden administration unveiled for the Indo-Pacific in May 2022. The Asian version began with more of an innovation focus. The Liberal government initially downplayed the importance of participating in it, before asking to join last October. With APEP, International Trade Minister Mary Ng cited the focus “on inclusive trade, on multilateral investment and on anti-corruption measures,” as well as expanding the flow of critical minerals, food, clean energy and vaccines. But APEP and IPEF aren’t conventional trade deals, and governments still need to negotiate specific commitments and sectors they’ll focus on. Conspicuously, Biden’s new Americas assembly also doesn’t include Brazil or Argentina, the southern continent’s largest economies; the two are in Mercosur, a different regional group with which Ottawa is negotiating directly. Canada already has existing trade agreements that cover seven APEP members.