Demonstrating they can stand together when the need arises, Asian countries united at the weekend in opposition to the United States' unilateral trade actions and their "debilitating implications for the multilateral trading system".
At a meeting of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, co-chaired by Japan and Singapore, trade ministers and officials from 16 countries renewed their commitment to the regional free trade pact and pledged to accelerate negotiations on the outstanding issues in order to reach a basic agreement in time for their meeting in Singapore at the end of the year.
Five years have passed since the idea of the RCEP was first raised in 2012, but negotiations among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations, Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand, have proved challenging. Divergences over tariffs, trade in services and investment rules, and intellectual property rights protection, as well as concerns about China's influence, have previously proved a drag on reaching an agreement.
However, the actions of the Trump administration have spurred efforts for the countries to bridge their economic and political differences so they can come together for the common good, and it now seems that the RCEP will finally materialize to make the region a flagship for free and fair trade.