The Political Economy of the Proliferation of FTAs

초록

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the causes and possible consequences of the proliferation of bilateral FTAs in East Asia. Throughout the paper, our discussion will be directed to finding clues on whether the bilateral FTAs in Asia that are completed or under discussion could be building or stumbling blocks for regional as well as global trade integration. Section II discusses strategies of East Asian countries for negotiating bilateral FTAs to understand better why they have joined the bandwagon of bilateralism. Section III is devoted to an analysis of economic effects of the proliferation of FTAs. Section IV and V examine market access and rules of origin in East Asian bilateral FTAs. This analysis is expected to help us predict whether East Asian countries will end up creating a convoluted noodle bowl, hub and spoke systems of bilateral FTAs or a single regional FTA in the end as they are entering into negotiations for a multiple of overlapping bilateral FTAs at the same time. This is followed in section VI by an assessment of the effect of East Asian bilateralism on economic integration in East Asia. Concluding remarks are in a final section.