Regionalizing Bilateral Free Trade Agreements in Asia

Frank Harrigan, William James, Michael Plummer and Fan Zhai

Chapter 3 in From Growth to Convergence, 2009, pp 74-107 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The trend toward bilateralism in Asia is gaining momentum and may well become the main avenue for trade negotiations in the wake of the suspension of the Doha Round negotiations. The rising tide of bilateralism is well documented and is becoming particularly notable in Asia where the former emphasis on “open regionalism.” has been replaced with preferential agreements based on reciprocity enforced by rules of origin (ADB, 2006). In 1995, there were only three bilateral preferential trade agreements (PTAs) involving developing member countries (DMCs) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO). By 2006, over 40 such agreements involving DMCs had been notified and nearly 100 others were in the process of being negotiated. Moreover, research on notified agreements that are available on the WTO homepage reveals that each has distinctive product coverage and varying rules of origin (James, 2006). This means that there will be no simple process of rolling these agreements into a regionwide free trade area.

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; World Trade Organization; Trade Cost; Intellectual Property Right; North American Free Trade Agreement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-25060-4_3

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230250604_3

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