A whole new world for free trade?
BBC, London
The final weeks of 2018 have been dramatic, to say the least.
Global stock markets are roiling, disturbed in part by the anti-free market trade sentiment that continues to roll-out of Washington.
Looking ahead to the new
year, however, pro-free trade movements in Europe and in Asia are progressing.
Two major agreements are about to come into effect that will bring together some of the worlds biggest trading areas and economies.
And they exclude the worlds two biggest economies, the US and China, who are engaged in their own trade war.
What are free trade agreements?
Free trade agreements are designed to cut trade tariffs between member countries.
Tariffs are a form of tax, like a border tax.
They are placed on goods coming into a country for a range of reasons, sometimes to try and protect a home-made product.
The purest free trade agreement (FTA) removes all border taxes or trade barriers on goods.
They get rid of quotas too, so there is no limit to the amount of trade you can do.
FTAs also help make a countrys exports cheaper and give easier entry to other markets.
They come in all sorts of forms and with different rules but in short, they make trade between countries as liberal as possible and allow for more rules-based competition.
The first new trade agreement to come into effect in 2019 is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.
It was known as the Trans Pacific Partnership until the US pulled out.
The wide-ranging deal was salvaged by the 11 remaining members - Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam - and renamed.
CPTPP now covers a market of nearly 500 million people and the economies included account for about 13 per cent of the worlds GDP.
Importantly, it removes tariffs on an estimated 95% of goods traded between member countries.
On 30 December, it will come into force for the nations that have completed their ratification processes: Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore.
For Vietnam, the big day is on 14 January and for the others it goes ahead 60 days after they complete their own ratifications. While all that is going on, another big FTA is expected to come into effect on 1 February.
The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will create an open trading zone covering a market of more than 600 million people and nearly one third of the worlds GDP. It has been in the making since 2013 and is the first trade deal to include an explicit reference to the Paris Agreement.
It strengthens the EU and Japans commitments around climate change and sustainable development.
These two deals are in stark contrast to the USs increasingly protectionist policies.
They are regarded by some as being vitally important to the future of free and fair global trade.
Furthermore, the worlds third largest economy - Japan - is involved in both of them.
Japan has not, in the past, been very active in free trade talks
internationally, but that has changed with both CPTPP and the EU-Japan EPA.
Also, after the US pulled out of TPP, Japan led the negotiation efforts to bring the new CPTPP together.
Its really an impressive evolution for Japan, says Frank Lavin, former US undersecretary of international trade, and chief executive of Export Now.
[Japan has] historically been the largest economy that has been the least enthusiastic for liberalisation, and now its stepping up and liberalising in the Pacific and the EU, he says.
