MILAN, Nov. 4 (Class Editori) — After Australia announced it ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), from next January, a huge free trade zone involving all the major economies will enter into force in Asia with an impact that still has to be estimated.
“RCEP will be in force 60 days after a minimum of six ASEAN members and three non-ASEAN signatories ratify the agreement. The ratification by Australia and New Zealand on November 2 paved the way for the deal to enter into force on January 1, 2022, and allowed RCEP to reach a milestone,” Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Trade Minister Dan Tehan explained in a joint statement.
Countries that have ratified the deal so far are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia New Zealand, Japan in last May and China in last March.
The goal is to remove 91% of duties on goods, thus creating a free trade zone which involves around one third of the global economy through the establishment of an economic cooperation area aimed at increasing global GDP by 290 billion dollars and international trade by 500 billion by 2030.
In an international framework still affected by the difficult relations between China and the US and a regional scenario characterized by tensions between China and India, the fact that American allies are creating an additional free trade zone excluding the US could represent an issue for Washington.
Furthermore, Beijing said it is interested in joining another free trade agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the heir to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) abandoned by the US under Trump Administration and nevertheless pursued by Japan. This could pose a further threat to US influence over the East Asian region.
The Japanese Government estimated that the entry into force of the RCEP will contribute to a 2.7% increase in the country’s GDP and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The RCEP was signed on November 15, 2020, by 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) together with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
“This agreement is an offspring of COVID-19 and, after 8 years of negotiations, now it is further driven by China's acceleration. In this sense, it represents a response to the global economic crisis by favoring Pacific countries in a regionalization of trade,” as stated by Benedetto Latteri, Ambassador of Italy to Indonesia and Italian Representative at ASEAN. “On the other hand, the geopolitical weight of the US decreases, confirming a downward trend that had been emerging for some time. China is the country that benefits most from this agreement, given its economic predominance and the numerous foreign investments stimulated by the Belt and Road Initiative. It has been aiming for economic and trade integration for some time for greater coordination on the BRI".
(Source:Class Editori)
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