“亚太自由贸易区”行不通
Asia must opt for open regionalism on trade
As the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation organisation (Apec) meets later this month (November 16) in Hanoi, the central question its leaders must confront is their response to the stalemate in the multilateral negotiations launched at Doha. Two options are competing for attention.
First, that Apec should continue to embrace “open regionalism”, acting as a forum where members undertake trade liberalisation in concert and extend it worldwide on a “most favoured nation” basis. Many in the region, led by Ross Garnaut and Peter Drysdale, the Australian economists, argue Apec should maintain this tradition and work actively for the cause of multilateralism by pushing for the conclusion of the Doha round.
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Second, that Apec should instead launch a Free Trade Agreement of Asia and the Pacific (FTAAP), converting Apec into a “regional” free trade area. This opposing proposal has resurfaced after being dismissed in earlier Apec deliberations in favour of “open regionalism”. An FTAAP would aim to eliminate trade barriers only for the Apec members while maintaining discriminatory, higher barriers against non-members.
The latter proposal is wrong-headed and the arguments advanced in its favour fail to persuade. The former leads one to ask: how might Apec reinforce efforts to conclude the Doha round?
The proposal to turn Apec into a free trade area runs into insuperable political and technical difficulties. At the political level, the chief problem is that the Asian nations in Apec have a growing Asian identity that is separate from the identity sought around the Pacific ocean. Many preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are already in place and others are afloat that seek to extend discriminatory
