Introduction

The recent advent of free trade agreements (FTAs) will likely have a marked impact on Asia's trade policy and its cherished status as the global factory. This paper deals with the spread of FTAs in economically important Asia since 2000, including the current FTA landscape, challenges FTAs pose for business and public policy, and what might be done to make Asian FTAs more multilateral friendly.

Three recent and interrelated developments provide the context for this chapter:

First, Asia's advanced production networks, which underlie its spectacular global export success over the past several decades, have deepened regionally (Kimura 2006; Asian Development Bank [ADB] 2008). Production networks have been broken into smaller steps, with each step in the most cost-effective location, thereby further improving efficiency. Falling regional trade barriers and logistics costs, along with technological progress, underlie this trend. Intraregional trade in Asia has increased significantly, particularly in parts and components, and this trend may continue with further regional liberalization via FTAs.

Second, East Asia—a relative latecomer to using FTAs as a trade policy instrument—is now at the forefront of global FTA activity with 54 concluded FTAs. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is emerging as the hub for Asia's FTAs, with other major Asian economies joining the FTA bandwagon. Policy support for the deeper integration of production networks, regional integration efforts in other major markets, and the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis have spurred the growth of Asian FTAs (Urata 2004; Kawai 2005). With many more FTAs currently under negotiation, there is little sign of a diminishing appetite for FTAs in Asia.

Third, there is emerging literature on the economic effects of Asian FTAs. Issues and concerns highlighted in the new literature include little use of FTA preferences, a "noodle bowl" problem of criss-crossing agreements that potentially distort trade toward bilateral channels, excessive exclusions and special treatment in FTAs, and the possibility that the multilateral trading system may be progressively eroded (Baldwin 2006; Bhagwati 2008). FTAs are a relatively new phenomenon in Asia and a dearth of empirical evidence, particularly with respect to patterns of Asian FTAs and business impacts, has made it difficult to verify the validity of these concerns. With the availability of new data, the time is ripe for an evidence-based assessment of Asian FTAs.

Amid the economic downturn following the global financial crisis and the stalled World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha negotiations, regionalism and FTAs in Asia are likely to persist as a means to promote liberalization. Liberalizing trade regionally, as opposed to globally, may be easier to achieve because fewer parties are involved. Moreover, regional agreements may be able to extend further in key policy areas. Accordingly, business will need to learn to export more effectively under a regional trade regime anchored on FTAs. The focus for policymakers is how best to minimize the costs of Asian FTAs (e.g., transactions and administrative costs) while maximizing their benefits (e.g., preferential tariffs, better market access, and new business opportunities.)

Adopting a pragmatic perspective, this paper examines trends and challenges in Asian FTAs with a view to making suggestions. Section II summarizes Asia's emergence as the global factory through outward-oriented development strategies and highlights the region's recent emphasis on FTAs. It charts major trends in Asian FTAs since 2000, including growth, hubs and spokes, cross-regional orientation, and trade coverage. Section III analyses five key challenges posed by Asian FTAs: (i) improving firm-level use of FTAs, (ii) tackling the Asian “noodle bowl” problem, (iii) promoting comprehensive coverage of agricultural trade, (iv) increasing “WTO-plus” elements, and (v) forming a region-wide FTA. New evidence from analysis of FTAs, firm surveys, and computable general equilibrium (CGE) models is used to address these challenges. In response to increasing interest in forming a region-wide agreement, Section IV explores political economy issues as they relate to FTA consolidation in East Asia and its potential connection with North America and Europe. In conclusion, Section V advocates strengthening the support system for regional production networks, forging comprehensive WTO-plus agreements, and encouraging an East Asia-wide FTA. A bottom-up approach to a WTO Doha Round Agreement emerges from the analysis.

For the purposes of this paper, the term “Asia” is narrowly used to describe the 16 economies that make up “integrating Asia,” while the term “developing Asia” excludes Japan.¹

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