Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is an international trade treaty.
Composition
The founding signatories are:
The 2021 coup has put the validity of Myanmar's ratification into question. The official stance of several members, importantly China among them, is that Myanmar is a full member.
Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, and Chile have applied for membership.
History
The treaty is largely an extension of the ASEAN international organization. It includes several non-members; importantly, the negotiations established common ground between Jinping, Abe, and Moon during the first Trump administration.
The treaty primarily lowers non-tax trade barriers, e.g. standardizing nation of origin regulations. It also prohibits certain types of tariffs.
In the context of Trump's re-election, the trade ministers of China, South Korea, and Japan met for the first time in 5 years and discussed strengthening the RCEP.