Q&A
What effect has the ASEAN- China Free Trade area had on China and ASEAN as a whole?
What effect has the ASEAN- China Free Trade area had on China and ASEAN as a whole?
The ASEAN–China Free Trade Area is the world’s largest free trade area in terms of population and third largest in terms of nominal GDP after the European Union and NAFTA. The original FTA reduced tariffs on nearly 8,000 product categories, or 90 percent of imported goods, to zero. The average tariff rate on Chinese goods exported to ASEAN is now only 0.6 percent, down from 12.8 percent, while the tariff rate on ASEAN goods exported to China also fell from 9.8 percent to 0.1 percent.
These favorable terms have taken effect in China and original ASEAN members, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam will implement these terms in 2015.
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