HOW DO ASIA-PACIFIC TRADE DEALS COMPARE?

Trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping will discuss various trade agreements or possible agreements around their meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, this weekend.

Here is a rough guide to the agreements and how they compare:

TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (TPP)

GDP: $8,897 billion (vs. $25,559 bn for TPP-12) Population: 496 million (vs. 817 mn for TPP-12) Trade between members:

$265 bn ($1,014 bn for TPP-12) Members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam (TPP-12 included the US)

TPP’s future has been doubt since President Donald Trump withdrew the US in one of his first acts as president, but Japan and others are now trying to get the 11 remaining members to push ahead. It does not include China.

REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (RCEP)

GDP: $21,490 billion

Population: 3,519 million

Trade between members: $1,937 billion

Members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India

This free trade deal is backed by China and it has been given new impetus by the US withdrawal from the TPP. Members now hope to get it signed by the end of the year, although past targets have proved optimistic.It is less comprehensive than TPP and the main focus is reducing tariffs.

FREE TRADE AREA OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC (FTAAP)

GDP: $41,581 billion

Population: 2,847 million

Trade between members: $5,547 billion

Members: Russia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile

This is essentially an aspiration among the 21 Pacific Rim nations that are part of APEC, a forum created in 1989 to promote free trade in the Asia-Pacific region.

Source: Reuters