Fifteen Asian nations, after eight years of negotiations, today signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at a virtual meeting in Vietnam, where Summits of ASEAN, ASEAN+1 (China), ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and South Korea), and the East Asian Summit (including the U.S., Russia and others) all took place over the past week. RCEP includes ASEAN+3 with Australia and New Zealand.
It is distinguished from other “free trade” agreements in that it emphasizes “fair” trade — there are no imperial restraints on nations to accept labor and environment conditions dictated from the Western nations, which are now (except Trump’s U.S.) diving into anti-industry “green” restraints on fossil fuels and carbon-emitting industries. The agreement focusses on tariff reductions over the next 20 years, and measures to support investment within the region.
