Selected issues in TPP negotiations and implications for China

• Main Author: GAO, Henry S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2014
• Subjects: Regionalism; Free trade; Commercial policy; China; Asia; Antitrust and Trade Regulation; International Trade Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2200; https://search.library.smu.edu.sg/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma99319530802601&context=L&vid=65SMU_INST:SMU_NUI&lang=en&search_scope=INK&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=INK&query=any,contains,Regional%20cooperation%20and%20free%20trade%20agreements%20in%20Asia&offset=0
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement is also known as the Pacific-4, or the P4 Agreement as it started out as a free trade agreement between 4 Pacific countries, i.e., Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. The history of economic integration among the P4 members can be traced back to the 1990s, when Chile and New Zealand first started exploring the possibility for an FTA. While the bilateral talks were suspended after only two rounds of negotiations due to Chile’s concerns on the potential impact on its agricultural sector, the idea re-emerged in 2000, shortly after New Zealand and Singapore announced the negotiation of an FTA. This time it took the form of a trilateral Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) involving all three countries. Originally conceptualized as the “Pacific Three” (P3) Agreement, its proponents also hoped that the Agreement could pave the way for wider trade liberalization in the APEC region that would lead to a P5 scheme, i.e., Australia and the US in addition to the original three countries.