Trans Pacific Partnership

The world has witnessed numerous trade deals since the start of globalization. For a business to run smoothly, nations lay rules that every trade partner is required to adhere to, while the failure to do so will lead to sanctions and banishments. Interestingly, the powerful nations have a significant influence in setting the agreement conditions that, in most instances, have favored their self-interest over that of other participants. However, China, whose trade thrives on the Asian continent, has understood this game and it has been reluctant to accept the Trans Pacific Trade Deal because it argues that it is in the interests of the United States. Thus, the paper is a discussion of China's trade in relation to other nations and the explanation of how this relationship informs its rationale for and against the Trans Pacific partnership

Since its inception, the Republic of China has struggled to improve its trade institutions to the level they are today; as of 2012, China had beat the USA, thus becoming one of the biggest trading countries on the globe. Before advancing into cross-border trade, China had a mostly agriculture-related domestic trade. Half of its population lived in rural areas, where most people worked as farmers. The government transformed the trade by making every household a primary production team. Thus, through collective farming, which was funded by the government, farmers were obliged to deliver a certain amount of produce, agricultural tax, and leasing fee to the government and then keep the surplus. The distribution of the produce later advanced to the urban centers through cooperatives, where the government extended its support to farmers by reducing planning and replacing it with contract purchase per item. At the same time, those, who owned private business, had their restrictions removed to allow them to sell their goods to the local and the urban markets.

However, the economy was still under an excessive control by the government, which made it impossible for the country to participate in trade with outside nations whose economic system was dissimilar to that of China. Although the country was engaged in foreign trade, known for its famous silk trade with the Portuguese, this trade was never a significant economic activity, where the attempts of the government to discourage it were visible For instance, through the canton system of the 18th century, the leaders banned the westerners from participating in trade with China because they were a threat to the nation and they were corrupt people. The Chinese felt threatened that foreigners would take over their businesses and participated more in banning the outsiders from doing business. As a consequence, some foreign nations used force to compel the Chinese to trade with them. Countries, such as Japan, managed to trade with China, and by 1950, the trade had extended to the Soviet Union where China imported machinery and plants to support its growing industries.

By 1980, China achieved a massive growth of its economy due to foreign inputs such as plants and machinery. The Chinese committed themselves to opening their country to international trade. China became a member of international economic institutions such as the World Bank and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. China opened its borders to Hong Kong, the United States, from whom they purchased high technology products, and the European nations such as Germany that sold industrial goods to the country. Today, China has existing trade agreements with Pakistan, Chile, Singapore, Iceland and Costa Rica. Other agreements such as the China Australia, and China-Norway are under negotiations. Recently, the USA invited China to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, but China's agreement was not received.

The Trans Pacific Partnership , initiated by the USA, aims at cutting trade tariffs for member countries. China has showed its support for the partnership because it is a move to promote the economy of the region. This will consequently improve the market for China’s exports and imports from the Pacific. However, the country is reluctant to join the TPP because of the following reasons. First, the partnership proposes the inclusion of 12 countries in the Pacific region, thus meaning that the members will control almost one third of the global trade. Although China worked on two potential trade deals, none would rival the TPP. An example is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership , a mega-partnership that China and other 10 nations, belonging to the Association of South-East Asian Nations, currently works on. Thus, since the TPP had offered greater economic benefits to participating nations than the TCEP had, China felt threatened that the United States would win over its market. Secondly, the TPP would mean that the USA would further impose its self-interest over other participating nations by defining the labor, copyright, and other rules in the global economy that would favor them. Thirdly, China’s current regime aims at dominating the world’s market. Thus, TPP is a hindrance towards the economic and political interests of the current administration . For these reasons, China shows no interest in the TPP.

Therefore, the journey of the Chinese nation to foreign trade started long ago although it stopped at some point due to threats from foreign traders. However, the internal trade was well established, with agriculture and related industries fueling the economy. At the same time, the planned economy in China nation almost made it impossible for foreign trade to take place. Nevertheless, China opened its borders to trade. Now, it is responsible for major trade deals such as the RCEP in the Pacific region. Moreover, China remains one of the biggest world's trading nations and its refusal to join the TPP, which is clouded by the economic interests of the USA, is a move for it to continue enjoying its trading position in the world. This paper was conducted by primeessays writing service.