The 15 November agreement to form the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between the 10 members of ASEAN and Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand has only modest immediate economic effects for the European Union (EU). However, with China playing a central role in the new arrangement, the long-term strategic and geopolitical implications are major.
On 8 March 2018 in Santiago, Chile, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was formally signed. The trade agreement was signed by 11 countries – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam – making it the third largest free trade area in the world by gross domestic product (GDP) after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and European Single Market.
Negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are now at a “critical stage” with a conclusion “finally in sight,” Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last weekend.
Despite the United States withdrawing from the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement), ASEAN countries will still largely benefit from the revamped version of the agreement. Now known as the ‘Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership’ (CPTPP), the remaining 11 participating countries will include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Whispers of protectionism have now turned into screams and shouts.
Ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries agreed Saturday to press ahead with a major trade deal without the United States, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's "America First" policy.Trump pulled his country from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the start of the year, dismaying allies and casting into doubt an agreement heralded for tying lower tariffs to strong environmental and labour protections.He has been something o
US President Donald Trump arrived in Vietnam Friday where he is expected to flesh out his "America First" vision for the future of world commerce, fresh from a visit to fellow superpower China which is pitching itself as the new architect of global free trade.Trump, who tweeted his arrival shortly after stepping off Air Force One at Danang airport, is likely to press his protectionist doctrine when he addresses CEOs ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum at the
Pacific nations are yet to agree on how to salvage a blockbuster trade pact after days of talks in Vietnam, with Australia confident of an outcome but Canada warning it wants a good deal over a fast one.Trade ministers meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit are due to present their proposal on the future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to leaders on Friday.
A blockbuster Pacific trade pact thrown into doubt by Donald Trump could be salvaged by suspending parts of the deal in order to get the 11 remaining nations to sign on, according to Malaysian Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed.Speaking in Vietnam ahead of a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders, including the US president, Mustapa said there was fresh momentum to save the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal that would have spanned 40 percent of the global economy.
ASEAN is no stranger to the plethora of acronyms that make up the names of its organs and initiatives – ARF, AICHR, SEOM, AMM, ADCFIM, just to name a few.
The inaugural visit of US President Donald Trump to the Asia Pacific region will kick start with a visit to a close ally, Japan on November 5-7. On the agenda is his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
