Agreeing on China's Favorite Trade Deal Set to Drag Into 2018

Asia’s push for RCEP slows as participants focus on rival pact
Tense negotiations show nations putting quality before speed

Bloomberg’s Stephen Engle reports on the top agendas of th APEC and Asean meetings.(Source: Bloomberg)

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Rosalind Mathieson

November 13, 2017 at 9:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

After talks aimed at wrapping up a giant Pacific trade deal almost collapsed in acrimony in Vietnam last week, ministers are now warning that a rival Asian pact should also focus on quality over speed.

That doesn’t mean the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership won’t get done. But the fraught negotiations in Danang over the Trans-Pacific Partnership showed that nations aren’t going to rush trade deals just to defend globalization against the rising protectionist mood since Donald Trump entered the White House.