A substantive conclusion to RCEP trade talks could come as soon as mid-November according to Singapore’s Trade Minister, Chan Chun Sing. Yet, a series of bilateral deal talks between ASEAN and Australia, China and New Zealand alongside South Korea looking to join CPTPP (which includes Japan, Australia and New Zealand) raises the prospect that the RCEP process may splinter. Should that occur the main party that may be left out is India which isn’t yet in the CPTPP and has run into resistance to its “Make in India” tariff policy. Making a wide-ranging RCEP deal matters for India given the ...