The United States’ proposed economic engagement initiative for the Indo-Pacific is expected to bring “meaningful” benefits despite the absence of talks on cutting tariffs, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Wednesday. “It is true that we are not talking about tariff reductions in the context of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework,” Tai said during a congressional hearing on the trade policy agenda of the administration of President Joe Biden. But “economically meaningful outcomes” are “absolutely a part of what we intend to build out with our Indo-Pacific partners,” she said. The Bid…