By: Katherine E. Owens*
Abstract
In May 2022, President Biden made the Indo-Pacific region the focus of a historic foreign policy initiative, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). The IPEF is a multi-faceted partnership between the United States and thirteen Indo-Pacific nations. It consists of agreements between the member nations on trade, climate, supply chains, tax, and anti-corruption. The IPEF includes plans to address critical issues such as climate change and supply chain disruptions. However, some members of the U.S. Congress question whether the IPEF agreements are constitutional. As the Biden administration continues to negotiate the agreements, the IPEF sits at the center of a domestic power struggle between the President and Congress.
The IPEF implicates both presidential foreign relations powers and congressional commerce powers, but there is no formula for the exact authority required to implement the IPEF agreements. Historically, statutes have guided the power-sharing between the President and Congress on trade issues by delegating certain authority to the President. However, the IPEF is not a traditional trade agreement. Also, the primary statute delegating authority to the President to negotiate international trade agreements expired in 2021. The Biden administration has stated that the President does not need delegated statutory authority to create the IPEF; however, lawmakers continue to question whether the President’s executive authority is sufficient to negotiate and implement the IPEF agreements.
After examining how constitutional powers, statutory authority, and custom interact, this Comment uses case law to propose a rule to determine whether President Biden has the unilateral authority to negotiate and implement the IPEF. After applying the rule, the Comment finds that the Biden administration does not have the requisite authority to implement the IPEF.
* J.D. Candidate, The Pennsylvania State University School of Law, 2025.