The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) economies of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia (fourth largest) will be among the top 25 largest economies. Even regional trade agreements, sometimes seen as alternatives to multilateral liberalisation, are under heavy attack, now even in the US. When it comes to regional trade engagements, Asean was forward thinking on global value chains and quite progressive in advancing its regional trade agreements. Asean also developed the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement and the Asean Comprehensive Investment Agreement in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis. Given these trends of shifting economic growth engines and trade agreements, should Asean have a trade deal with the US?

Source: Bangkok Post March 16, 2017 21:45 UTC