RCEP World`s Largest Trade Deal.
                     RCEP World`s Largest 
Trade Deal
INTRODUCTION
• 15 countries in the Asia-Pacifi c region signed 
the world’s largest trade agreement, which is 
expected to accelerate a shift in global trade 
toward East Asia and away from the West. 
Source: foreignpolicy.com
TRADE POLICY
• Negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive 
Economic Partnership (RCEP), spearheaded by 
China, began with a slow start in 2012 but 
gained new urgency as the Trump 
administration pursued a protectionist trade 
policy. 
Source: foreignpolicy.com
WORLD’S LARGEST TRADING BLOC
• The pact establishes the Asia-Pacifi c as the 
world’s largest trading bloc, bigger than the 
European Union or North America, accounting 
for $26.2 percent of global output some 30 
percent of the global economy.
Source: foreignpolicy.com
REDUCE TARIFFS
• The RCEP wil l  reduce tariff s over a 20-year 
period, streamline customs procedures, and 
replace a number of bi lateral trade 
agreements in the region with one set of rules. 
Source: foreignpolicy.com
PREDICTION
• The Peterson Institute for International 
Economics estimates that by 2030 the deal 
could increase global GDP by $186 bil l ion, 
although China, South Korea, and Japan are 
expected to benefi t more than other 
signatories.
Source: foreignpolicy.com
INDIA WITHDREW FROM THE NEGOTIATIONS
• India withdrew from the negotiations this year 
over concerns that its domestic market would 
be supplanted by Chinese imports, and Beij ing 
pushed back against New Delhi’s eff orts to 
make the deal more ambitious in scope.
Source: foreignpolicy.com
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
• The Trump administration has spent the past 
four years backtracking on decades of U.S. 
trade policy, ripping up international 
agreements and imposing tariff s. 
Source: foreignpolicy.com
WORLD’S LARGEST FREE TRADE DEAL
•  In 2017, President Donald Trump withdrew the 
United States from the Trans-Pacifi c 
Partnership (TPP), set to become the world’s 
largest free trade deal and part of the Obama 
administration’s pivot to Asia. 
Source: edition.cnn.com
LEAVING THE US BEHIND?
•  I t 's not clear whether the deal wil l  have an 
impact on the most important global trading 
relationship of al l:  i .e. between the United 
States and China, who have been fi ghting over 
trade and related issues for the last few years.
Source: edition.cnn.com
RCEP BENEFITS
• The mega deal lays the foundation for deeper 
cooperation among member countries in the 
future, especial ly between those that don’t 
have existing bilateral trade deals.
Source: edition.cnn.com