China and Australia are now eyeing to finalize a 16-nation trade deal known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in 2019, effectively reducing the chances of an agreement being reached in 2018, Bloomberg News reported.
"It will take a little bit longer to ensure that we get the type of substantial, meaningful, commercially meaningful market access decisions that Australia expects in a trade agreement," Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham was quoted as telling reporters Nov. 13 in Singapore.
Birmingham noted that country delegates that met until late Nov. 12 have made substantial progress on the RCEP, which is broader than the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and comprises 16 economies that account for about one-third of global GDP and half the world's population.
The RCEP would include Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, as well as the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also said Nov. 13 that he hoped the RCEP talks would conclude in 2019. Singapore — the current chair of the ASEAN — has pushed for a "substantial conclusion" to the RCEP before the end of 2018.
India has made slow progress on the RCEP, which focuses mainly on goods and services, amid concerns the trade pact does not enable free movement of skilled labor for its growing technology workforce but opens up its market to manufacturing-heavy economies. India, Australia and Indonesia are also entering elections in 2019, which could complicate efforts to resolve issues surrounding the trade pact, according to the report.
