China-US duel to be multilateral trade champions and CPTPP in keen focus at Singapore forum

Name: CPTPP could become game changer and supplant 'out-of-date' WTO, after mainland China, Taiwan apply
Uploaded: 2021-11-18T12:25:26.000Z
Duration: 11 min 11 s
Description: CPTPP could become game changer and supplant 'out-of-date' WTO, after mainland China, Taiwan apply

The future of the 11-nation trade pact CPTPP came under the microscope on second day of discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum

Political forecaster Ian Bremmer says Chinese involvement would be positive, but domestic politics makes US involvement unlikely

Reading Time:3 minutes

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Containers at the port in Tianjin, China. Photo: AP

Bhavan Jaipragas

Published: 8:25pm, 18 Nov 2021Updated: 9:35am, 19 Nov 2021

Intensifying machinations involving mainland China, the United States and Taiwan over multilateral trade were in keen focus as corporate leaders and officials gathered for the second day of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.

Of particular interest was the future of the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), to which Beijing and Taipei have both recently indicated an eagerness to join.

That duelling bid aside, interest has focused on America’s plans for a trade engagement with Asia on a multilateral basis.

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, among the speakers on the first day of the forum, pitched a nebulous new “economic framework” comprising the US and its allies that would involve ad hoc sectoral cooperation rather than a full-suite trade pact.

11:11

CPTPP could become game changer and supplant 'out-of-date' WTO, after mainland China, Taiwan apply

Participation in the CPTPP is out of the question for Washington, which was an early driver of the pact but pulled out during the presidency of Donald Trump.

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