Since the very beginning, the P4 Agreement has been conceived as a catalyst for a broader free trade agreement (hereafter ‘FTA’) that would ultimately include most major economies in Asia Pacific. That’s why the Agreement includes an explicit clause that allows ‘any APEC economy or other...

Initially a hardly-noticed agreement, the TPP has become the hottest buzzword in the FTA game since the US-led group launched negotiations in 2010. What is the history of the TPP? Why did the US make it its top priority in trade policy? What are the promises and problems in the TPP negotiations?...

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. It starts with the negotiating history, then discusses the major substantive obligations, and concludes with some thoughts on its economic impacts and future prospects

Despite being the largest free trade agreement (FTA) in the world, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is often criticized as a shallow FTA. In this essay, however, we contend that the RCEP is better understood in the context of the great power rivalry between the United...

Starting with the signing of the CEPA with Hong Kong, China, on 30 June 2003, China has jumped on the RTA bandwagon. As of 1 September 2006, China has signed or is negotiating RTAs with trade partners such as Hong Kong, China; Macau, China; Chile; Pakistan; Australia; New Zealand; ASEAN; Iceland;...

This article reviews the evolution of rules on digital trade in US FTAs, and argues that the US approach has shifted from treating it largely as a traditional trade issue to recognizing its unique digital nature and tailoring the rules accordingly, as it has done in the Trans-Pacific Partnership...