Hogan Lovells Publications | Global Regulatory Alert | December 2020

RCEP – bigger, but is it better? Taking Stock of Asia's new free trade agreement

After eight years of negotiation, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on Trade (RCEP), the world's largest regional trade agreement, was signed in an online ceremony on 15 November 2020.

The trade deal lowers tariffs, expands services trade, harmonizes rules of origin, and promotes regional trade.

However, few see it as being as comprehensive as other free trade agreements (FTAs) and it is frequently compared unfavorably to the more ambitious coverage of the other big Asian trade agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

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