President Biden said the United States needs to be present when he proposed the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said during a fireside chat at the Woodrow Wilson Center on July 25. This framework gives the U.S. a strong, integrated economic strategy with those countries, she said.

"President Biden said we have to be present we need a framework to have a strong integrated economic strategy with these countries," Raimondo said. 

She said early in her tenure GM and Ford closed their Midwest operations and furloughed thousands of people because a packaging operation in Malaysia closed due to a COVID outbreak.

"We said to ourselves, 'We need to be more integrated with these economies around supply chain, semiconductors, infrastructure, etc.'," Raimondo said.

The “fireside chat” between Raimondo, and the “Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition” (WISC) Chair, Sadek Wahba, discussed the future of the “Indo-Pacific Economic Framework” (IPEF), according to the Wilson Center website. This included delving into the topic of the security and investment of America in these areas of “strategic economic importance”. The event also featured other speakers such as Mark Green and Mark Kennedy.

The IPEF, according to the event page, was launched in 2022 by the Biden administration. It serves as the backbone of America's current strategy when it comes to its position in “the world’s most dynamic region”. Its goal is to strengthen those relationships in the Indo-Pacific region that promote order and growth. The effort is led by Raimondo.

Raimondo is the 40th Secretary of Commerce, beginning her tenure in 2021. Her aim is to inspire innovation and growth for businesses and workers across America, according to her department website bio. She was the first female governor of Rhode Island and prizes the values of hard work, financial security, and opportunity.