2012 Volume 2011 Issue 15 Pages 5-16
This paper briefly outlines the evolution to date of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its potential strategic importance as a building block for eventual establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). It then assesses the progress of the TPP initiative under four headings: as an FTA; as a region-wide agreement superimposed on an existing network of bilateral and plurilateral agreements among its members; as an instrument of United States’ re-engagement with East Asia; and as a “building block” for the FTAAP. The paper concludes with a discussion of the significance of the TPP for Japan.
