OCTOBER 31, 2024
U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy: Shaping Trade Agreements with ASEAN and Taiwan
Thursday, 509 O'Brian Hall
Noon Reception; 12:30 Presentation
Option to attend via Zoom.
Access the advance paper when available. |
The seminar by Pasha L. Hsieh provides up-to-date analysis of the US/Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade within the context of both domestic and international law, examining its implications for Indo-Pacific regionalism. Specifically, it explores how the Initiative complements the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and the broader Indo-Pacific strategy, with a focus on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in light of the emerging “China challenges.” First, it offers a theoretical framework that bridges international law and international relations perspectives on recognition and situates the Indo-Pacific strategy within a global context, rather than focusing narrowly on U.S.-China tensions. Second, it addresses constitutional issues related to the shared trade authority between Congress and the president, as well as controversies in trade and international law. Finally, it compares the Initiative with previous U.S.-Taiwan agreements and contemporary Indo-Pacific trade agreements, including the IPEF, ASEAN-Plus agreements, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The findings offer valuable insights into the transforming landscape of Indo-Pacific dynamics.

Bio: Pasha L. Hsieh is Jean Monnet Chair Professor and Lee Kong Chian Fellow at the Singapore Management University, Yong Pung How School of Law. He received his J.D. and LL.M. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was a Senior Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Additionally, he holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Free University of Brussels. Prior to academia, he served as a Legal Affairs Officer at the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat and as an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP.

Hsieh’s teaching and research primarily focus on international economic law, public international law, and Asian legal studies. His monograph, New Asian Regionalism in International Economic Law, was published by Cambridge University Press and has been translated into Chinese and Japanese. He co-edited the book, ASEAN Law in the New Regional Economic Order: Global Trends and Shifting Paradigms, also published by Cambridge University Press. He was the Co-Chair of the American Society of International Law-Asia-Pacific Interest Group and is an Executive Council Member of the Society of International Economic Law.