Summary:

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) offers a relatively moderate level of tariff elimination compared to other trade agreements involving ASEAN countries. With a target of 92% tariff elimination, RCEP aligns with its objective of fostering regional trade facilitation. However, this figure is slightly lower than the 98.6% tariff elimination under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the 99% commitment in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). 

While RCEP’s ambition may appear modest compared to other ASEAN agreements, the pact still represents meaningful progress toward deeper economic integration. Given that many ASEAN countries already engage in high-level tariff commitments, RCEP’s incremental liberalisation strategy complements existing frameworks. As a “living” agreement, RCEP offers flexibility for future adjustments, allowing member states to respond to evolving trade dynamics while maintaining coherence across overlapping trade agreements.

Highlights:

1. RCEP’s moderate ambition in tariff elimination. With 92% of tariffs to be eliminated, RCEP falls short of ATIGA’s 98.6% and CPTPP’s 99%. This suggests that while RCEP makes progress, it lags behind existing regional agreements in tariff liberalisation.

2. High levels of tariff elimination in ASEAN+1 FTAs[1]. In bilateral agreements like AKFTA and ACFTA, both ASEAN and its partners achieve tariff elimination rates of over 94%. Similarly, AANZFTA achieves 100% zero-tariff coverage between Australia, New Zealand, and ASEAN countries, highlighting deeper liberalisation commitments elsewhere.

3. ASEAN’s notable role in regional trade integration. ASEAN continues to drive economic integration through substantial tariff reductions, with ASEAN and ASEAN+1 agreements achieving near-complete tariff elimination. This underscores ASEAN’s ongoing efforts to foster open and integrated regional trade.

For further analysis, please see our working paper: Evaluating Tariff Efficiency: A Comparative Analysis of RCEP and Pre-Existing Preferential Trade Agreements in ASEAN (Authors: BANH, Thi Hang, XU, Ni Scarlet and Faith Tan)

Article By XU, Ni Scarlet

Graphic By YAN, Bowen

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[1] ASEAN +1 FTAs are free trade agreements between the ASEAN member states and individual dialogue partners.