At a time when global trade is once again being shaken by tariffs, threats and unilateralism - this time from the United States - the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has quietly emerged as a vital anchor for economic cooperation in Asia.

Often overlooked or misunderstood in Western discourse, RCEP is the world’s largest free trade agreement, encompassing 15 countries that account for nearly one-third of global GDP and population.

Signed in 2020 and now fully in force, it brings together the ten ASEAN members along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

It is easy to dismiss RCEP as just another acronym in an alphabet soup of trade deals. But in the face of renewed US protectionism and the use of tariffs as economic weapons, RCEP offers the Indo-Pacific region something far more strategic: a framework for resilience, integration and independence.

A shifting trade landscape

When Washington announced a universal 10% tariff on all imports earlier this year alongside the threat of further duties of up to 50% on surplus-running countries, many Asian economies found themselves scrambling for cover. While some tariffs were temporarily suspended, the underlying message was clear: US trade policy has become increasingly transactional, unpredictable and, at times, punitive.

For countries like Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, key exporters of automobiles, electronics, steel and solar panels, the new tariffs risk undermining decades of integration with US markets. And for smaller ASEAN states such as Cambodia and Laos, whose US-bound exports have surged in recent years, the impact could be especially painful.

This context makes RCEP more than just a trade pact. It is emerging as an economic safety net, and crucially, a platform for Asia to chart a more autonomous path in an era of great power rivalry.

What RCEP actually does

RCEP’s strength lies not in headline-grabbing tariff cuts - most members already had some form of bilateral or regional trade deal with each other - but in its harmonisation of rules and streamlining of standards across a vast and diverse region.

At the heart of the agreement is a unified rules of origin framework. Under RCEP, goods that qualify as “originating” from any member state can move more freely throughout the region without triggering additional tariffs or red tape. This dramatically reduces compliance costs for businesses operating across multiple jurisdictions.

To this end, a Japanese company assembling electronics in Vietnam using components sourced from South Korea can now export those goods to Indonesia or Australia under preferential terms. Previously, that same firm would have had to navigate a patchwork of different bilateral rules, often resulting in costly delays and missed opportunities.

This is exactly the kind of supply chain flexibility that Asian firms need in the current climate, as they seek to insulate themselves from US-China tensions, shipping bottlenecks, and inflationary pressures.

Deepening intra-Asian trade

Another benefit of RCEP is its potential to boost intra-Asian trade, which remains surprisingly underdeveloped relative to the region’s economic weight. As of 2023, over 60% of trade in the European Union was internal. In ASEAN, that figure was closer to 25%. RCEP, by lowering non-tariff barriers and aligning product standards, could help close that gap.

The timing is also opportune. With Western economies slowing and external demand weakening, many Asian governments are looking inward as a more reliable engine of growth. ASEAN, however, in particular has emerged as a focal point for supply chain diversification, especially for sectors like electronics, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing.

RCEP supports this pivot by offering a ready-made platform for regional integration without requiring alignment on political values or security interests. That stands in contrast to frameworks like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), which, while well-intentioned, lacks market access provisions and remains tethered to shifting US policy priorities.

Decoupling from dependency

Perhaps the most significant value of RCEP lies in what it symbolises: a concerted effort by Asia to reduce its reliance on external powers, particularly the United States, for economic leadership.

This doesn’t mean turning away from global trade, nor does it imply alignment with any one country, including China. In fact, RCEP was ASEAN-led from the start, designed as a counterbalance to China-centric initiatives and as a complement to the CPTPP, of which China is not yet a member.

Instead, RCEP allows pragmatic pluralism: the ability for Asian economies to engage with all major powers on their own terms, rather than being forced to choose sides.

As tariff threats from Washington mount and US credibility as a trade partner wavers, RCEP gives Asian countries a rules-based, institutionally supported mechanism to trade with each other and, increasingly, to drive global standards from the region outward.

RCEP is not without flaws though. It lacks strong provisions on labour rights, environmental standards and dispute resolution; all major issues in Western markets. Furthermore, it does little to address the digital economy or services trade in its current form.

But its value today is not in solving every problem. It is in buying time for Asia, and creating space for the region to shape its own future, on its own terms.

Already, countries like Indonesia and the Philippines are leveraging the deal to boost investment in green energy and critical minerals. Malaysia is positioning itself as a semiconductor hub. Thailand is using it to upgrade its automotive supply chains.

Even non-members like India are watching closely, reassessing whether exclusion is in their long-term interest.

As the global trade system becomes more fractured and politicised, Asia is not retreating. It is reorganising.