The Enterprise for ASEAN Initiative (EAI), as envisaged in 2002 by the Bush administration, is set to be a landmark in U.S.-ASEAN trade relations. This study provides a detailed background and a map to the unfolding negotiations. It includes: a detailed review of the U.S.-ASEAN economic relationship, beginning with coverage of the U.S.-ASEAN trade in goods globally and ending with an in-depth analysis of the changing structure of bilateral trade in services; reviews of theories of FTAs and empirical testing of the economics of the EAI itself. Using the USSFTA as a reference point, this study...

Regional economic integration has become a key force in international commercial policy in the 2000s. Europe has traditionally embraced regionalism; the United States became actively involved in preferential trading arrangements only in the 1980s. While Asia has been late in accepting formal regional economic integration accords, all Asian countries are now in the process of creating various free-trade areas and other forms of economic integration programs, and some are already in place. This volume analyzes the regionalism trend from an Asian perspective. It considers the lessons from, and...

Given the rapid emergence of regional economic arrangements in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia, it is useful to understand clearly what regionalism implies for the region, as well as to take stock as to the far-reaching and complicated effects of formal economic cooperation and integration. This book allows the reader to better understand the relevant international policies of the Southeast Asian economies, and to appreciate the potential lessons for other developing regions. It also focuses on the regionalism trend with an explicit application to ASEAN, as well as the implications of...

While global trade negotiations remain stalled, two tracks of trade negotiations in the Asia-Pacific--the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and a parallel Asian track--could generate momentum for renewed liberalization and provide pathways to region-wide free trade. This book investigates what these trade negotiations could mean to the world economy. Petri, Plummer, and Zhai estimate that world income would rise by $295 billion per year on the TPP track, by $766 billion if both tracks are successful, and by $1.9 trillion if the tracks ultimately combine to yield region-wide...

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) constitutes the most ambitious programme of economic cooperation in the developing world. Its goal is to create no less than a free flow of goods, services, foreign direct investment, and skilled labour, as well as a freer flow of capital, throughout the region. Implementing this agenda will be technically and politically difficult. Hence, understanding the potential economic "payoff" is of the essence. The goal of this book is to assess empirically the likely economic effects of the AEC on the ASEAN Member States and associated stakeholders. It mobilizes a...

As we enter the 2010s, the global economy is becoming increasingly integrated. International trade has been growing rapidly, an ostensibly irresistible trend that was only temporarily disrupted by the 2008-09 global recession. Globalization has become associated with a country's economic success while failure to open up markets is often viewed as a cause of economic stagnation. This is predicted by economic theory and verified by empirical investigations. One reason for the growth of trade is the impressive reduction of trade barriers over the past 60 years; namely the pursuit of liberal...

ASEAN economic cooperation and integration have come a long way since the organisation's early days, when cooperation was more political and diplomatic than economic in nature. ASEAN now constitutes the most ambitious organisation of regional cooperation and integration in the developing world. This book investigates the economics of various ASEAN and ASEAN-centric economic integration initiatives, focusing in particular on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). In addition to assessing the potential effects of the AEC on the economies of the ten ASEAN member states via changes in trade, foreign...