Summary:
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was launched as a milestone in Asian trade integration. Bringing together 15 economies, it promised stronger linkages, more resilient supply chains, and a rules-based anchor for the region. Yet with tariff shocks from major partners and growing geo-economic uncertainty, the question remains: is RCEP delivering?
On 9 September 2025, ACI’s webinar “Can Asia-Pacific Deliver on the RCEP Promise” convened policymakers and researchers to take stock of progress and next steps. The discussion noted that RCEP’s benefits to date are modest and uneven, and stressed that near-term gains depend more on effective implementation than renegotiation. Looking ahead, participants explored priorities for a “RCEP 2.0” agenda and reflected on RCEP’s potential as a strategic platform to uphold openness and multilateral cooperation amid global tariff shocks.
Key Highlights:
1. Uneven gains so far: RCEP adds the most new tariff value where no prior FTA existed (China–Japan–Korea). For many ASEAN and Oceania members, existing ASEAN+1 deals already deliver comparable or better preferences.
2. Trade creation is real but narrow: Overall effects are small; the clearest gains appear in previously sensitive or input-heavy sectors (e.g., fertilizers, chemicals, some metals, textiles). RCEP is reinforcing existing supply-chain linkages more than it’s rewriting them.
3. The real work lies in implementation: Immediate wins are less about renegotiating terms and more about accelerating what’s already on paper. That means pushing tariff schedules forward, boosting utilisation rates (still low in several members), and scrapping low-yield “nuisance tariffs” that clog up trade.
4. A “RCEP 2.0” agenda: A stronger, future-oriented RCEP could look like:
- Raising tariff coverage to 95–100% over time
- Simplifying rules of origin and allowing importer self-declaration
- Deepening services and behind-the-border reforms
- Building new disciplines for the digital and green economy
- Upgrading governance from a Support Unit to a full-fledged Secretariat
5. Strategic role amid tariff shocks: With the U.S. and others resorting to unilateral tariffs and ad hoc bilateral deals, RCEP has a unique role to play: keeping Asian markets open, coordinating non-retaliatory responses, and reinforcing multilateral rules. Expansion could also help preserve the agreement’s scale and relevance.
1. Three Years on RCEP’s: Promise and Disparities in Regional Trade
2. Delivering on the RCEP Promise
3. Rising Global Uncertainties: Role of ASEAN and RCEP in Sustaining Growth
ACI Perspectives 