The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will see Asian importers increasingly spurn business with the EU, US and other non-member markets, cementing the Asia Pacific region’s primacy in global trade, new UN research finds.
In the report, titled A new centre of gravity, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) forecasts that billions of dollars in exports will be diverted away from nations not included in the trade deal, as importers based in the newly launched bloc seek to capitalise on tariff measures contained within the agreement.
The analysis calculates that tariff concessions in the deal will boost intra-Asia exports by nearly 2% from 2019 levels, or approximately US$42bn.
To read the full article by Global Trade Review, please click here.