Int'l Trade Standards Should Be Set by All States, Not US Alone

BEIJING (Sputnik) — All countries in the world should jointly agree and set international trade standards, there should not be a US monopoly in the sphere, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

On Monday, US President Barack Obama said that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal would allow the United States to lead the way in global trade, adding that a Chinese-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) demonstrated the need for the TPP to be approved by the US Congress.

"The United States is very ambitious making such statements, but I'm afraid it does not take into account the long-term prospects. The international trade standards should be determined by all countries of the world together, not dictated by a single country," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a press briefing.

The TPP agreement was signed by 12 nations in February 2016, but still requires approval from the US Congress. If implemented, the free trade agreement will encompass 40 percent of the global economy. Critics of the TPP claim that it undermines domestic companies, laws, regulations and institutions through an extra-judicial process that stacks the deck in favor of multinational corporations.

The RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as six states with which ASEAN has free trade — Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

About half of the RCEP members are TPP members as well.