Cross Regional Trade Agreements: Understanding Permeated Regionalism in East Asia (review)

[ 171 ] policymaker’s library • select books published in 2008 Cross Regional Trade Agreements: Understanding Permeated Regionalism in East Asia Saori N. Katada and Mireya Solís, eds. New York: Springer, 2008 • 168 pp. InsharpcontrasttotheAmericasandEurope,wherecross-regionalinitiatives gained strength after the consolidation of regional trade integration, East Asian governments early on negotiated trade deals with partners outside of their region. Why have East Asian countries been prone to negotiate cross‑regional trade agreements (CRTA) undermining in the process the chances of a self-contained regional economic bloc? main argument Although regional factors in East Asia (such as lingering historical and territorial disputes as well as dependence on global markets) create incentives to negotiate CRTAs, East Asian countries are also interested in negotiating extraregionally to increase their intraregional trade leverage by using CRTA negotiations as a training ground and opportunity for domestic precedent setting in a low-risk environment. CRTAs are important because they disseminate negotiation modalities from one region to another and yield permeated regionalism. policy implications • A “fortress Asia” scenario is not realistic. The world is full of cross-regional interactions and is not converging in the direction of enclosed regional blocs. East Asia is particularly porous because early negotiations with extraregional partners have influenced subsequent free trade agreement (FTA) talks with regional ones. • Seemingly trivial CRTAs (due to modest shares of trade covered) have an impact on how East Asian regionalism unfolds because they build bureaucratic capacity, boost international FTA credibility, and set domestic political compromises on market opening. • CRTA diplomacy attests to the new willingness of East Asian governments to go beyond their status as aggressive exporters in order to become assertive players in defining international trading rules. A case in point is Beijing’s use of CRTAs to advance recognition of China’s status as a market economy. ...