Asia-Pacific free trade talks nearing the finish line

Asia is not only the world’s most dynamic region in terms of trade, it is also an important pacesetter in trade policy. The USA is currently negotiating with 11 partner countries over a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); the members of the ASEAN+6 group are in talks over a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), while Japan, China and Korea are conducting trilateral trade negotiations (China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CJK FTA)). The multilateral structures emerging from all these initiatives could, in the long term, be combined into a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). What are the motives behind these agreements? What are their chances of being implemented? When it comes to the trade and geopolitical power struggle that encompasses these talks, does the USA or China have the upper hand? And what role remains for Europe’s trade policy?