RCEP: Asia readies world's largest trade deal

Deutsche Welle ^ | 12.30.2021 | Nik Martin

[Olog-hai]

Trade barriers between most countries in the Asia Pacific will be lowered significantly from January 1 as the world’s largest free trading bloc opens for business.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a trade deal between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

RCEP will cover about 30% of global gross domestic product (GDP), worth $26.2 trillion (€23.17 trillion), and nearly a third of the world’s population, some 2.2 billion people.

By comparison, the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) covers 28% of world trade, while the European Union’s Single Market is a distant third at nearly 18%. […]

… (Rolf) Langhammer, who is a former vice president of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (ifw-Kiel), said the advantages of RCEP would be uneven among the 15 member signatories. He said he expects China ― by far the region’s largest economy ― to benefit the most, along with Japan and South Korea.

“The agreement is tailored to China’s interests, both on the import and export side,” he told DW. “RCEP will give China tariff-free access to key export markets like Japan and South Korea, while at the same time, securing access to import sourcing markets [ASEAN countries] for its huge manufacturing supply chain.” …

[Jonty30]

The elites are dividing into blocs, before they join the blocs into a single world.