Deal on free trade pact likely in Nov

SINGAPORE: Broad agreement is expected to be reached at a leaders’ summit in Singapore in November, the city-state’s trade minister said on Saturday. The 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which will cover about half the world’s population and a third of its GDP, has taken centre stage as Washington embarks on a unilateral, protectionist agenda. The RCEP is backed by China and notably excludes the US, which had been leading another regional pact - the Trans-Pacific Partnership - until President Donald Trump abandoned it on coming to office early last year. Trump, whose administration has embarked on an America-first policy and is engaged in a tit-for-tat trade brawl with China, will skip two Asian summits in November, including one in Singapore. RCEP trade ministers and negotiators met in Singapore on Thursday and Friday on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) gathering. The RCEP will group the 10 Asean members plus China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.  

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2018.

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