RCEP with participation from 16 countries including Japan to the summit meeting on 4th November 6:45 on November 2

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RCEP = East Asian Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Ministerial Meeting with 16 countries including Japan, China, India, etc. held in Thailand, confirming progress of negotiations at the summit meeting on the 4th, announced as a joint statement Decided to do.

The RCEP ministerial meeting, in which 16 countries in the Asia-Pacific region participate, was held on the evening of Japan time in the suburbs of Bangkok, Thailand.

After the ministerial meeting, including informal consultations, Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Makihara held a press conference. After the discussion was held, "the progress of negotiations was confirmed at the summit meeting held on the 4th, and it was revealed that a joint statement will be announced.

RCEP negotiations have so far been substantially agreed on in about 20 out of about 25 fields, and according to the parties concerned, this meeting has made progress in the areas of rules such as investment and intellectual property. That is.

However, since there is still a gap in the area of ​​tariff elimination, the final decision will be left to the summit meeting to conclude negotiations within the year.

RCEP is the last large EPA

For Japan, which aims to expand trade and investment through the EPA = Economic Partnership Agreement, RCEP is the last large EPA that is currently under negotiation.

With RCEP, Japan will establish a new EPA with China, the largest trading partner, and South Korea, the third trading partner.

There are already bilateral EPAs with India, Australia, Thailand, etc., so you can select and use more advantageous agreements.

In addition, we signed a trade agreement with the United States, and the EPA came into effect in the EU = European Union.

If RCEP is realized, the percentage of partner countries / regions where tariffs will be eliminated or reduced in EPA will increase from 50% to 80% of Japan's trade.

Negotiating difficulty is the gap between China and India

The biggest factor that has made RCEP negotiations difficult is the gap between China and India over the elimination of tariffs on goods.

China is calling for significant market opening to increase exports to a huge Indian market with a population of 1.3 billion.

On the other hand, India wants to protect the domestic industry and shows a cautious attitude to drastically reduce tariffs.

India had a huge trade deficit of $ 53 billion last year against China, and it was already under attack from China.

For this reason, they are seeking to allow measures to automatically raise tariffs if imports surge.

The goal of closing negotiations within the year will be focused on whether the gap between China and India is filled.