Why India, China can't keep dodging trade deals and let RCEP talks fail

If Beijing needs to compromise to get regional talks across the finish line, so does India

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, is not a “competitor” to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (or, as it’s now known after adding the adjectives “comprehensive” and “progressive,” the CPTPP). Yes, the CPTPP very obviously excludes the People’s Republic of China while the RCEP does not. But, unlike the former, the RCEP is a more traditional sort of trade deal, in which tariff cuts on tradeable goods — rather than high standards for labor, environmental and intellectual-property protections — are at the center of the discussion.

That’s part of the reason India is leery of signing it. This week, as leaders of