It is not surprising that the US wants to reconnect with Asia. After all, as Barack Obama said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Hawaii, that is where the action is. Growth in the region averages above 7 per cent. With Europe in crisis and anaemic growth at home, the US wants to tap into Asian markets to meet Mr Obama’s target of doubling exports and creating jobs.

After being distracted for a decade in the Middle East, Washington’s “pivot” towards Asia – to use secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s word – shows it has woken up to the region’s rise. US re-engagement, in strategic as well as economic terms, is to be broadly welcomed. But there are challenges, even dangers. Washington will need finesse to get it right.

Its main trade initiative is the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mr Obama wants the nine negotiating countries – plus Japan, if possible – to sign a “next-generation” trade agreement by the end of 2012. The TPP is supposed to incorporate non-tariff issues, such as government procurement and intellectual property protection. Getting Japan to sign up to a meaningful deal will be extremely difficult, given intense opposition from farmers. Yet without Japan, the TPP would be a hodgepodge, bringing together countries as diverse as Brunei, Peru, Vietnam and Australia.