美國印太經濟架構作為貿易協定的特性與挑戰

論發展全球供應鏈，然自2017年美國川普政府採行「美國優先」，及拜登政府「以勞工為中心」之外交與貿易政策以來，美國對外貿易政策方向似乎有所調整，尤其是拜登政府於2022年5月23日正式啟動「印度-太平洋經濟繁榮架構」協定之談判，更是此等政策調整的具體適例。美國「印太經濟架構」擬與13個印太地區國家針對四大關鍵支柱建立經濟合作的機制，包含：公平與韌性貿易（連結經濟）、全球供應鏈韌性（韌性經濟）、潔淨能源與去碳、基礎設施（潔淨經濟），與稅捐及反腐敗（公平經濟）等議題，全方位與印太地區理念相近之夥伴國家，建立經貿合作的聯盟。此「印太經濟架構」乃繼「北美自由貿易協定」重新談判，並簽署「美加墨協定」以來，美國政府在沒有國會快速授權法案支持下，首次對外啟動談判的貿易協定，此架構除欠缺市場進入規範外，尚有若干不同於傳統自由貿易協定的特殊性及相應的問題與挑戰，而此等經濟架構的模式對於WTO多邊貿易架構或既有區域貿易協定的可能影響，更是當前國際經貿領域必須探討的重要課題。因此，本文於前言說明後，第二部分先概述美國晚進貿易政策的演進及印太經濟戰略的緣起背景。第三部分再著重探討「印太經濟架構」四大支柱協定，擬先參酌美國已簽署修訂生效後的「美加墨協定」為模版，進而檢視「印太經濟架構」協定之涵蓋內容與規範重點，最後附帶論及「臺美21世紀貿易倡議」，探討其與「印太經濟架構」之關連、定位及後續影響。第四部分則基於前開規範之內容與比較，探討印太經濟架構作為貿易協定的特殊性及挑戰，包含欲順利完成談判有待克服的課題及其對WTO多邊貿易體制與區域貿易協定的可能影響。最後，展望「印太經濟架構」未來的發展，並持續觀察其對國際貿易理論的可能影響，作為本文的結論。

Since the 1980s, the United States has adopted a trade expansion policy aiming at developing a global supply chain through the ''comparative advantage'' theory. Whereas staring 2017, the Trump administration adopted the“American First”foreign policy and the Biden administration adopted a“labor-centered”tade policy. Ever since then, the direction of U.S. foreign trade policy seems to have been graduately adjusted to address new trade challenges. Especially when the Biden administration officially launched the“Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)”negotiation on May 23, 2022, these policy adjustments became realized as a perfect example. Under the IPEF, the U.S. plans to establish an economic cooperation mechanism with 13 Indo-Pacific countries on four key pillars, including: fair and resilient trade (connected economy), global supply chain resilience (resilient economy), clean energy, decarbonization, and infrastructure (clean economy), taxation and anti-corruption (fair economy), and tries to establish an alliance for economic and trade cooperation with partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region that share similar ideology. With the renegotiation of“North American Free Trade Agreement”and siging of the“U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement”, the IPEF is the first trade agreement that the U.S. initiated without the authorization Congress's trade promotion authority. In addition to the lack of market access provisions, the IPEF contains some particularities and confronts challenges that are different from traditional free trade agreements. The possible implication of the IPEF model on the WTO multilateral trade regime or existing regional trade agreements is also a major issue in the current international economic and trade field. Therefore, the second part of this article first outlines the evolution of the United States’recent trade policy and the background of the economic strategy in Indo-Pacific region. The third part then focuses on the IPEF agreement. Here, we first intend to refer to the revised USMCA agreement that the United States has just signed and was considered as a template for the IPEF, and then examine the coverage and important rules of the IPEF, and finally discuss the“U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade”to explore its relationship with the IPEF. The fourth part, based on the above discussions, the article explores the particularities and challenges of the IPEF as a trade agreement, including issues that need to be overcome in order to successfully complete the negotiations and their possible impact on the WTO and current regional trade agreements. Finally, depending on the future development of the IPEF, the article points out the possible implication on the evolution of international trade theory.