As the trade conflict between the United States and China continues, three free trade agreements are pressing ahead, including– the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), soon to enter into force, the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (JEEPA), recently signed and which represents 30% of global economic output, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an agreement that includes both India and China and comprises the largest trading block in the region.
Specific developments include recent ratification by Mexico and Japan of the CPTPP that now requires ratification by four more signatories before entry into force. Additionally, CPTPP parties recently met to discuss and lay out a procedure for how other countries that are not currently members of the CPTPP can join the agreement. Japan and the EU recently signed JEEPA and hope it is ratified and enters into force early next year. And, separately, the RCEP’s Trade Ministers met in Tokyo in early July, with further working level negotiations planned in July and August 2018.