'Trade is in our blood': Asia backs expanded rules based economic ties

Despite unprecedented disruption to global trade in 2025, Asia continues to view the rules-based trading system as the strongest foundation for its economic future, according to a new report by the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). The report notes that trade is “in the blood” of Asia, with countries in the region pressing ahead with plurilateral trade arrangements to deepen economic integration, provide certainty for businesses, spur innovation, and support growth.
Authored by Jane Mellsop, ASPI’s Director of Trade, Investment, and Economic Security, the report draws on roundtable discussions and interviews with more than 60 experts from government, industry, and policy circles across Asia and the United States. It examines how like-minded countries can preserve and strengthen the rules-based trading system through flexible, plurilateral cooperation.The report acknowledges that the evolving trade policy of the United States has added complexity to the global trade environment, demanding close attention from Asian economies. While regional agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which has 12 members, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), with 15 members, have delivered tangible benefits, the report argues that both need to be updated to remain relevant amid rapid economic and technological change.
For the CPTPP in particular, progress on ambitious upgrades has been challenging due to its broad and diverse membership. Expanding membership or initiating novel dialogues with other trading blocs—such as the CPTPP’s recent engagement with the European Union and ASEAN—could help access new markets, deepen integration, and send a strong signal in support of rules-based trade, the report says.Mellsop cautions that Asia should not be complacent with existing trade rules. The region, she argues, is well placed to use the current push by countries to diversify markets and supply chains to pursue new forms of plurilateral cooperation. Potential areas highlighted include critical minerals, economic security frameworks, and green technologies—sectors that are also of interest to the current U.S. administration, though Asian countries would need to carefully consider China’s perspective on any new arrangements.
Importantly, the report notes growing openness among countries to pursue alternatives to legally binding, comprehensive free trade agreements, which often take years to negotiate. Less formal arrangements—such as agreed principles, guidelines, or targeted cooperation frameworks—can unlock trade benefits more quickly. One such example cited is the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership (FITP).While the current global context provides momentum for advancing plurilateral initiatives, the report identifies a lack of clear leadership in the region as a key challenge. It calls on a group of like-minded countries, including Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore, to take the lead in driving greater plurilateral integration and defending the rules-based system.
At the same time, the report acknowledges constraints, including limited resources for trade negotiations and implementation. Developing countries, in particular, will require capacity building and high-quality investment to ensure that new trade arrangements deliver meaningful outcomes.“Although there has been a rise in protectionism and trade-distorting measures across the globe in recent years, there are also determined efforts in Asia to move new trade negotiations forward, to expand and update existing trade agreements, and to enter into new and innovative trade dialogues,” Mellsop writes, underscoring Asia’s continued commitment to open, rules-based trade cooperation.

(Asstt.Editor)