CNBC reports that think tank Peterson Institute for International Economics said that negotiating a new and improved trade deal with Asia-Pacific countries would help the U.S. to reassert its leadership in the region while countering China’s growing dominance.

Frayed U.S. ties with Asian allies is an issue that President-elect Joe Biden should work to reverse “perhaps sooner rather than later,” said Jeffrey Schott, PIIE’s senior fellow.

“The incoming Biden administration’s domestic policies to strengthen US output and employment and to support the most vulnerable in society should not deter it from attending to the dramatic changes in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.

Over the last few years, countries in Asia-Pacific have moved on without the U.S. while deepening ties with China, said Schott, an expert on international trade policy. That can be seen in the signing of the 15-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that included China, he said. China is also negotiating new trade deals and upgrading existing agreements with countries in the region, he added.