On November 15th, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) was signed, joining the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. The RCEP will take effect in mid-2021. According to USDA GAIN report CH2020-0168 released on December 23rd 2020, the agreement should have minimal affect on agricultural trade between the U.S. and China.
The RCEP agreement is noteworthy in that it is the first pact between Japan and China since before WWII. The RCEP initiates a phased reduction in tariffs on Chinese chicken, fish and other agricultural products currently imposed by Japan, a
lthough this nation has reserved the right to exclude specified critical commodities from the tariff-reduction schedule. These include rice, wheat, sugar, beef and pork. USDA-FAS estimates that in 2019 Japan received 13 percent of total agricultural imports from China.
Members of the RCEP do not compete directly with U.S. for trade with China. Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam have existing bilateral free-trade agreements with China.