On September 16, 2021, China announced that its Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, submitted a formal application to New Zealand’s Minister of Trade and Export Growth to join CPTPP. This is accompanied by recent efforts by Chinese embassy officials to lobby the Australian parliament for assistance in joining the trading pact.

The pact, consisting of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam was signed in 2018 following President Trump’s withdrawal. The deal is seen as a strategic hedge against China’s influence in the region and competing trade pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), consisting of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The development has drawn reactions across the U.S. government and from allies:

The White House

When asked whether the Administration would consider rejoining CPTPP, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that it would be considered alongside “a range” of options to strengthen economic ties in the region. Psaki went on to say that President Biden has “been clear that we have to join with the 40 percent of the world that we had with us for the deal and make sure environmentalists and labor are at the table, so obviously there’d be a lot of steps to be taken in order for that to be a viable option.”

Congress

Senate Finance trade subcommittee Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) and ranking member John Cornyn (R-TX) said, “For quite some time, we have been warning about China’s subtle yet deliberate moves to join the CPTPP – the very trade pact crafted to counter China’s trade influence that the United States mistakenly walked away from” and that, “We’ve long believed that United States trade leadership is critical for our country’s economy and national security – and it’s clear that China is not waiting to assert itself in the region. The U.S. cannot afford to continue waiting in the hallway – we must get our seat back at the table to re-engage our Asia Pacific allies in trade” in a joint statement.

Taiwan

On September 22, 2021, Taiwan announced their formal application to New Zealand’s Minister of Trade and Export Growth to join CPTPP. The announcement came less than a week after China’s application.

Australia

On China, Australia’s Trade Minister, Dan Tehan said “CPTPP parties would also want to be confident that an ­accession candidate would fully implement its commitments under the agreement in good faith.” Tehan went on to say that it was unlikely China could join until members saw a “track ­record of compliance” on previous commitments.

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Photo of Edward Goetz Edward Goetz

Edward Goetz is the manager for International Trade Services in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. Edward leads the firm’s international trade analysts providing practice support to the International Trade Group in the areas of customs regulations, trade remedies, trade policy, export control…

Edward Goetz is the manager for International Trade Services in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. Edward leads the firm’s international trade analysts providing practice support to the International Trade Group in the areas of customs regulations, trade remedies, trade policy, export control, economic sanctions, anti-money laundering (AML), anti-corruption/anti-bribery, and antiboycott. He has extensive government experience providing information and interpretive guidance on the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) concerning the export of defense articles, defense services, and related technical data. He also assists attorneys with matters involving the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), economic sanctions, AML, anti-corruption/anti-bribery, and trade remedies.

Photo of John Brew John Brew

John Brew is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, and he regularly advises corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations…

John Brew is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, and he regularly advises corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations on matters involving customs administration, enforcement, compliance, litigation, legislation and policy.

John represents clients in proceedings at the administrative and judicial levels, as well as before Congress and the international bureaucracies that handle customs and trade matters. He advises clients on all substantive import regulatory issues handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, such as classification, valuation, origin, marking, tariff preference programs, other agency regulations, admissibility, import restrictions, quotas, drawback, audits, prior disclosures, penalties, investigations, Importer Self Assessment and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programs, importations under bond, the Jones Act, vessel repairs, and foreign trade zone matters.