Commentary Type

Mega-Regional Trade Agreements and the Future of the WTO

Chad P. Bown (PIIE)

Part of Discussion Paper Series on Global and Regional Governance, Council on Foreign Relations

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The major economies have shifted trade negotiating emphasis toward mega-regional agreements. In particular, the emergence of three sets of negotiations—the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agree-ment among Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the United States, and seven other countries; the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the United States and the European Union (EU); and China's pursuit of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations—raises a host of short- and long-term questions for the multilateral trading sys-tem and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

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