Mega FTAs in East Asia and Their Strategies: Competition and Cooperation by Reshaping Global Supply and Value Chains

Abstract

The EU’s single market provides several implications to East Asian countries building their FTAs for their regional economic integration. They participate in different mega FTAs such as the RCEP and the CPTPP. As a result, their economic interests are rather divided deeply and related to political and security issues in the Asia and Pacific region. Particularly, the trade conflicts between the U.S. and China have continued since 2018, and the U.S. negated the TPP that turned to CPTPP without the U.S., while India withdrew from the RCEP in Nov. 2019. This paper deals with Mega FTAs as well as East Asian collaboration and competition. It also argues what are East Asian countries’ economic interests by participating in the RCEP and the CPTPP as well as how to overcome the newly emerging protectionism caused by the new U.S. trade policy and trade conflicts between G2. Finally, it also analyzes the roles and strategies of China, Japan, and Korea to protect their regional and global economic interests overcoming protectionism in the global trade environment individually and collectively, while the new global supply chains are reshaping in the region.