‘Substantial progress’ made on trade deal: Singapore

Substantial progress has been made on hammering out a China-backed trade deal, Singapore’s leader said yesterday, driving ahead the world’s largest commercial pact which the United States is excluded from. World leaders gathered in the tropical city state this week for a summit where a massive Beijing-backed agreement covering half the world’s population has dominated discussions.

Diplomats have been trying to nail down details as Beijing entices its neighbours to join a commercial alliance seen as an antidote to President Donald Trump’s “America First” protectionist trade policy. The US has imposed tariffs on roughly half of what it imports from China, prompting Beijing to retaliate with its own levies. China, Japan and India are among 16 Asia-Pacific countries negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

“Substantial progress has been made this year to advance the RCEP negotiations,” Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Wednesday evening, adding talks were now “at the final stage”. “With the strong momentum generated this year, I am pleased to note that the RCEP negotiations are poised for conclusion in 2019,” he added. But he cautioned any further delays could risk “losing credibility” for a deal -- which has already taken six years to negotiate.

This week’s meetings are the biggest in a series of annual gatherings organised by regional bloc the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN), and are attended by 20 leaders. RCEP was given extra impetus after US P re s i d e n t Donald Trump pulled the US out of the rival Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in early 2017. That deal was spearheaded by his predecessor Barack Obama and aimed to bind fast-growing Asian powers into an American-backed order to counter China.

Trump is not at the  Singapore summit, nor will he attend a subsequent gathering of world leaders in Papua New Guinea at the end of the week, having sent Vice President Mike Pence instead. National Security Advisor John Bolton, however, told reporters in  Singapore  that the president’s no-show should not be seen as a lack of commitment towards the region.  He blamed a “schedule crunch” after a particularly frenetic few weeks that included the midterm elections, attending the World War I armistice commemorations in France and preparing for the G20 in Argentina later this month.