This book investigates the appropriate relationship between regionalism and multilateralism, with a special reference to recent FTAs in Asia. It is undeniable that past trade multilateralism-regionalism debates centered on the trade-in-goods aspect.

The rise of Asia and the dynamics of Asian economic development have impacted global trade relationships and regional cooperation tremendously. While the WTO integrating national economies into global trade regulations has further liberalized trade relationships between developed and developing nations and amongst the emerging economies in particular in Asia, proliferation of free trade agreements in Asia has raised growing concerns regarding the fragmentation of the world economic order. World-renowned experts have here answered a variety of trade related issues ranging from China’s free trade agreements in its neighbourhood, the Tripartite Relationship between China, Japan and Korea, the Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation as well human rights and environmental implications of free trade agreements. Contributors are: Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Jianfu Chen, Won-Mog Choi, Ming Du, Henry Gao, Liyu Han, Jiaxiang Hu, Robert Irish, Tomoko Ishikawa, Md. Rizwanul Islam, Kwangkug Kim, Qingjiang Kong, Yong-Shik Lee, Wei Liang, Kuei-Jung Ni, Delei Peng, Yasuhei Taniguchi, Kim Van der Borght, Matthias Vanhullebusch, and Richard N. Watanabe, Shengxing Yu

The Asia-Pacific region has witnessed a rapid rise in bilateral preferential trade agreements at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This trend could have potentially dramatic effects on the trading patterns of countries in the transpacific region and beyond. Some argue that these accords will spur multilateral negotiations, while others believe that they will irreparably damage the trading system. Bilateral Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific examines the underlying political and economic factors driving these accords, based on a novel theoretical framework. Experts then provide overviews of political and economic trends in the region as well as detailed analysis of the trade strategies of Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Mexico. By systematically evaluating and assessing the driving forces underlying the turn to bilateral trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis of this crucial phenomenon. Growing numbers of countries both in the region and elsewhere in the world are now considering further negotiation of bilateral trade accords. Understanding how these arrangements will fit or conflict with existing institutions in the Asia-Pacific and the WTO makes this book imperative reading for policy-makers and scholars.

In this conference volume, distinguished economists and trade policymakers address the US initiatives to enter into free trade negotiations with a broad range of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Western Hemisphere, and Africa. The sheer number of these initiatives is unprecedented and has provoked major policy questions concerning US interests in the negotiations, the setting of priorities among the many contenders for concluding free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States, the objectives of those trading partners, and the implications that these agreements could have for broader initiatives such as the Doha Round in the World Trade Organization and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The papers in the volume were presented during a conference on FTAs and US trade policy, sponsored by the Institute in May 2003. The editor, Jeffrey Schott, summarizes the policy implications drawn from the conference papers and discussions, which are organized around several topics: the conceptual case for FTAs and how they have worked in the past; what FTAs imply for the broader global system; the specific agreements that are already being pursued (Australia, Central America, Morocco, southern Africa) or considered (ASEAN, Brazil, Egypt, Korea, and Taiwan). The volume includes a technical appendix with results of GTAP and gravity model simulations of the trade and welfare effects of the prospective agreements.