1. Multitrack Integration in East Asian Trade: Noodle Bowl or Matrix?
- Author:
- Peter A. Petri
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- East Asian trade agreements are often described as a complicated "noodle bowl," which shows links in the region as a snarled, overlapping and intertwined mass. But this is a misleading representation--Asia's regional agreements may in fact be creating an order of a different sort, building the foundations for a stronger regional trading system. Asian trade arrangements can be more constructively seen in terms of a trade agreements matrix, in which multiple negotiations produce an orderly progression of agreements to liberalize all potential bilateral relationships and move the region toward a coherent system of freer trade. The various approaches to deeper economic integration--regional arrangements, trans-Pacific agreements, and global engagement--are complementary paths that should eventually lead to an open global trading system. East Asia is of growing importance in the global marketplace, and adopting an aggressive multitrack strategy--as the region appears to be doing--may be the fastest route toward a new global framework.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Israel and Asia