With the long-standing failure of multilateral negotiations in the World Trade Organization and the recent US retreat to economic nationalism and “America First,” Asian trade and investment liberalization and regional integration are increasingly where the action is for global economic advances. This reality is illustrated by three moving targets: the completion and expansion of the Comprehensive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (CPTPP); the determination by member states to complete this year negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement; and the rise of new, advanced bilateral trade agreements, particularly between Asian and non-Asian economies. Because today’s trading world is built upon the internet and supply chains, the two regional agreements cited above (though quite different in depth) will yield much greater economic benefits for their members than multiple bilateral pacts—including those that may be offered by the United States.

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