(NDAgConnection.com) – U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) Wednesday joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively, in urging the Biden administration to support Taiwan’s inclusion as a partner in the proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). The senators outlined the importance of Taiwan to the United States as a trade partner and underscored that failing to include Taiwan in IPEF runs counter to U.S. economic interests in the region.

“IPEF can be a meaningful first step for the United States to assure its allies and partners that we are economically engaged in the region, which accounts for sixty percent of the world economy and two-thirds of all economic growth over the last five years. For IPEF to be a useful vehicle to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific, however, we must make sure that all of America’s regional allies and partners are included,” the senators wrote. “This is just one necessary aspect to ensuring the framework is competitive in a region already saturated with economic treaties and agendas.”

Also signing the letter were Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).