Free Trade Agreements and Patterns of Trade in East Asia from the 1990s to 2010s

Abstract

East Asia was slow in establishing free trade agreements (FTAs) compared to other parts of the world, where FTAs began to be actively formed in the late 1980s. Despite a slow start, East Asia quickly caught up with other regions in the FTA race. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been a main player in the FTA race in East Asia, as ASEAN enacted ASEAN Free Trade Area as early as 1993 and then in the 2000s enacted five ASEAN+1 FTAs, separately with China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. Economic as well as non-economic motives are found behind active establishment of FTAs by East Asian countries. Talks about establishing a region-wide FTA began in the early 2000s, but region-wide FTAs have not yet been formed. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) covering 12 East Asian as well as Pacific countries was signed, but the US withdrawal from the TPP terminated the TPP process. Instead of the TPP, TPP11 or Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) without the USA was successfully negotiated and signed. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) involving 16 East Asian countries has been under negotiation but facing difficulty in reaching an agreement because of different views on various issues including market access among the negotiating members. Faced with growing protectionism in the world, it is important for RCEP and CPTPP to be enacted to keep the momentum toward trade liberalization. To successfully conclude the negotiations, compromise and strong political will of the leaders are needed. The paper also found that FTAs have contributed to promote trade between and among FTA members, contributing to the promotion of regional economic integration.