The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has caused great concern and debate about its impact on China. The trade pact dubbed as “Anything but China”, extols the dominant view that China’s exports will be negatively affected by the TPP since its members enjoy low tariffs and preferential market access among themselves. China’s outsider status could also be seen as an indictment of its inadequacies, such as limited intellectual property protection and a lack of government procurement standards which will divert trade and manufacturing from China to TPP members.
On the other hand, some of China’s leading trade policy intellectuals say that they are not concerned about the agreement. For starters, China doesn’t need to belong to the TPP to enjoy some of the perks that come with being a member. The country already has free trade agreements with more than half of the TPP countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam, and it can exploit those arrangements to minimize or avoid import duties that would normally apply to made-in-China products. On top of that China is busy negotiating its own free-trade pact with 15 countries in the Asia Pacific region and is expected to become the world's largest economy in the next decade.
In short, TPP is a new partnership that took over 7 years to become effective, and definitely it will have some effects on the Transpacific trade. However, time will show if the effects on China will be as severe as it is thought to be, and how China’s counter measures might affect the future of TPP.
The European Chamber is delighted to have Ms. Mary Boyd, Director at The Economist and Mr. Anthony Chen, partner at Jones Day as they discuss the pros and cons of China’s exclusion to the TPP, and the implications this will have on the trade and power dynamics within the Asia-Pacific region.
AGENDA
9:00 to 9:30 Registration
9:30 to 9:40 Welcome Remarks
9:40 to 10:40 Roundtable Discussion moderated by Dr. Ioana Kraft, General Manager, European Chamber
10:40 to 11:20 Q&A Session
11:20 to 11:30 Closing Remarks
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