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The Free Trade Area Of The Asia- Pacific : A Constructive Approach To Multilateralizing Asian Regionalism

Author

Listed:
  • C. Fred Bergsten

    (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI))

  • Marcus Noland
  • Jeffrey J. Schott

Abstract

This paper examines the prospect of realizing regional economic integration via the mechanism of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). The FTAAP initiative represents a politically ambitious, high potential benefit option for achieving Asian regional integration. Among its desirable attributes, the FTAAP initiative could help revive and promote a successful conclusion of the Doha Round negotiations; constitute a “Plan B†hedge if Doha fails; short-circuit the further proliferation of bilateral and sub-regional preferential agreements that create substantial new discrimination and discord within the Asia-Pacific region; defuse the renewed risk of “drawing a line down the middle of the Pacific†as East Asian, and perhaps the Western Hemisphere, initiatives produce disintegration of the Asia-Pacific region rather than the integration of that broader region that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was created to foster; channel the People’s Republic of China (PRC)-United States economic conflict into a more constructive and less confrontational context; and revitalize APEC, which is of enhanced importance because of the prospects for Asia-Pacific and especially the PRC-US fissures. An incremental approach to the FTAAP, explicitly embodying enforceable reciprocal commitments, offers the best hope delivering on the concept’s abundant benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Fred Bergsten & Marcus Noland & Jeffrey J. Schott, 2011. "The Free Trade Area Of The Asia- Pacific : A Constructive Approach To Multilateralizing Asian Regionalism," Trade Working Papers 23200, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:eab:tradew:23200
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. C. Fred Bergsten & Bates Gill & Nicholas R. Lardy, 2006. "China: The Balance Sheet What the World Needs to Know Now about the Emerging Superpower," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number pa04648, January.
    2. Tingsong Jiang & Warwick McKibbin, 2009. "What Does a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific Mean to China?," Chapters, in: Chunlai Chen (ed.), China’s Integration with the Global Economy, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Richard E. Baldwin, 2011. "Multilateralising Regionalism: Spaghetti Bowls as Building Blocks on the Path to Global Free Trade," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume I, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Shang-Jin Wei, 2007. "Assessing China's exchange rate regime [‘Working with the IMF to strengthen exchange rate surveillance’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(51), pages 576-627.
    5. Gary Cylde Hufbauer & Sjamsu Rahardja, 2007. "Toward a US-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number pa83, January.
    6. Manchin, Miriam & Pelkmans-Balaoing, Annette O., 2008. "Clothes without an Emperor: Analysis of the preferential tariffs in ASEAN," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 213-223, June.
    7. Mary E. Burfisher & Sherman Robinson & Karen Thierfelder, 2001. "The Impact of NAFTA on the United States," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 125-144, Winter.
    8. C. Fred Bergsten, 2005. "The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 3802, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Perez-Restrepo, Camilo & Roldan-Perez, Adriana, 2016. "Is the Pacific Alliance a Potential Pathway to the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific?," Philippine Journal of Development PJD 2014-2015 Vol. 41-42 , Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    2. Ekaterina Y. ARAPOVA, 2017. "Ex-Post Analysis Of The Influence Of Tariff Liberalisation On Asean Exports," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 17(2), pages 135-154.
    3. Grochowska, Renata & Kosior, Katarzyna, 2013. "Agricultural policies in the context of regional and global food security concerns – the case of the Asian region," Problems of World Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, vol. 13(28), pages 1-9, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regional Economic Integration; free trade area; the Asia-Pacific; Asian regionalism; APEC;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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