TPP versus RCEP: Control of Membership and Agenda Setting

Hamanaka, Shintaro

doi:10.11644/kiep.jeai.2014.18.2.279

Cited by 41 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…50 By contrast, RCEP's comparatively lower ambitions and greater flexibilities could facilitate its speedy expansion. 51 Therefore, RCEP, if successfully implemented, has a strategic opportunity to outgrow the CPTPP as a premier vehicle for catalyzing the development of an FTAAP. It may be true that a return to the (CP)TPP by the United States, however unlikely, would make a difference, but the soft power dissipation of the (CP)TPP bloc cannot be reversed unless Washington breaks clean with its current policy trajectory that clouds trans-Pacific relations and recovers its image as a credible and benign leader that believes in rules-based trading order rather than a power-or sovereignty-based one.…”

Section: Coexistencementioning

confidence: 99%

A Deal that Does Not Die: The United States and the Rise, Fall and Future of the (CP)TPP

Rana

2019

Pacific Focus

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Trans‐Pacific Partnership (TPP) is one of the most politically resilient economic arrangements of the past decades. Its evolution, including the highs and lows, is closely tied to the shifting positions of the United States. This article examines the role played by the United States in the rise, fall and future of the TPP and its successor, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TPP (CPTPP). First, this article revisits Washington's threefold geo‐economic interest behind the original TPP in terms of projecting influence in Asian affairs, supporting Obama's Rebalance to Asia strategy, and leading the regional rule‐writing efforts to facilitate 21st century trade and investment. Second, this article delves into offering an explanation of the loss of the TPP in the United States. It argues that the TPP was crippled under an overlay of bad timing, bad politics and bad context. Specifically, the 2016 elections, Trump's disapproving views on the TPP, and the narrow and underperforming US trade policy ecosystem at large were the key factors leading to the US withdrawal from the TPP. In conclusion, the article considers the future of the CPTPP by asking and answering three questions: Will China and other countries join the bloc? Will the CPTPP evolve into a Free Trade Area of the Asia‐Pacific? And, are the CPTPP and the China‐backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership part of the Asia‐Pacific's constructive response to Trump's protectionism?

show abstract

Section: Coexistencementioning

confidence: 99%

A Deal that Does Not Die: The United States and the Rise, Fall and Future of the (CP)TPP

Rana

2019

Pacific Focus

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Beijing's proposal covered just trade in goods; Tokyo's included issues such as services, investment and intellectual property. Ultimately the EAS geometry prevailed and talks were launched toward RCEP, based on those countries which already had bilateral PTAs with ASEAN (Hamanaka 2014).…”

Section: Variable Geometriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, it has been widely noticed that TPP and RCEP each excludes one of the region's and world's two largest economies: China is not party to the TPP negotiations, and the United States is absent from RCEP discussions. Several analysts have argued that TPP and RCEP are therefore the vehicles of a new phase of competitive regionalism in Asia (Armstrong 2011;Hamanaka 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade agreements and strategic rivalry in Asia

Wesley¹

2015

Australian Journal of International Affairs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…This division and the U.S. -China rivalry may undermine ASEAN's leadership in the regional trade architecture as well as in the regional political landscape. In order to preserve its central role as facilitator of economic and political arrangements in the region, ASEAN should play a proactive role in RCEP negotiations, and maintain its own unity and coherence (Fukunaga, 2015. andHamanaka, 2014). These arguments make it clear that international trade negotiations are impregnated with geopolitical rivalry among major economic powers.…”

Section: Box 1 Rcep and Tpp -Alliance Or Rivalry?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…18 The EU's goals concerning trade in goods and customs duties (tariffs as it's best known) is very simple: although industrial tariffs are generally fairly low (less than 2 percent in average in the EU-US trade) and over half of the transatlantic trade is not subject of duties/tariffs, but the rest faces extremely different duties/tariffs, some other duties/tariffs are even prohibitive. 19 In some cases, EU and US duties/tariffs are largely different even on the same products/group of 16 The three main chapters consist of 24 trade and investment issues. The European Commission "as part of its latest transparency initiative" has already published 27 fact sheets (2 page long each), 15 EU position papers ("these set out how we'd want a final deal to read, line by line") as well as 12 EU textual proposal ("what we want to achieve in a chapter".…”

Section: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (Ttip)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the WTO over? Mega-regional/plurilateral free trade negotiations: perspectives of multilateralism in trade

Csáki¹

2015

Studia Mundi – Economica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A II. világháború óta a világkereskedelem folyamatosan és igen dinamikusan bővül -különösen igaz ez az 1980-as évek óta eltelt időszakra. Sokan mondják azt is, hogy a világkereskedelem soha nem volt olyan szabad, mint manapság, s tény, hogy ma már 161 ország vesz részt a WTO égisze alatt folyó sokoldalú kereskedelempolitikai tárgyalásokon. Ennek ellenére, a WTO elmúlt két évtizedes története egyáltalán nem sikertörténet -a WTO egyetlen kereskedelmi fordulót sem zárt le sikeresen: a Millenniumi Forduló 1999-ben el sem indult, a 2001-ben elindított Doha Fordulót pedig 2006-ban hivatalosan felfüggesztették. Ilyen körülmények között nem meglepő, hogy az elmúlt években sorra indulnak a mega-regionális/plurilaterális kereskedelmi tárgyalások -s a legjelentősebb, a Transzatlanti Kereskedelmi és Befektetési Partnerség nevű, az USA és az EU közötti tárgyalások megindítása nagyban közrejátszott a WTO 9. Miniszteri értekezletének (Bali, 2013. december) viszonylag sikeres lezárásához. Most az a nagy kérdés, melyik mega-regionális zárul le sikeresen, illetve milyen sorrendben zárulnak le, s ez nem jelenti-e a WTO végét, nem szorítja-e vissza a WTO egy nemzetközi kereskedelmi vitarendezési fórummá?Since WWII a very dynamic expansion of international trade has taken place -it is especially true for the period since the early 1980s. Many says that world trade has never been so free as nowadays, and 161 countries are taking place in multilateral trade talks under the umbrella of WTO. Nonetheless, recent two decades of WTO is far from being a success story -none of the WTO trade Rounds have been completed successfully: the Millennium Round had not even started in 1999, and the Doha Round (launched in November 2001) was officially suspended in the year 2006. Under such conditions, it is not surprising at all that multi-regional/plurilateral trade negotiations were launched -and the most important of those, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, that is the US -EU free trade negotiations contributed a lot to the relatively successful conclusion of the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference (Bali, December 2013). Now, the great question is, whether which mega-regional free trade negotiations will be concludes and if more, in what order? Will these mega-regional trade deals mean the end of WTO? Will the WTO driven back to become a multilateral dispute settlement forum?

show abstract

TPP versus RCEP: Control of Membership and Agenda Setting

Cited by 41 publications

References 8 publications

A Deal that Does Not Die: The United States and the Rise, Fall and Future of the (CP)TPP

A Deal that Does Not Die: The United States and the Rise, Fall and Future of the (CP)TPP

Trade agreements and strategic rivalry in Asia

Is the WTO over? Mega-regional/plurilateral free trade negotiations: perspectives of multilateralism in trade

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About