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On July 15, the US-ASEAN Business Council (The Council) conducted its inaugural Virtual ASEAN Workshop in preparation for the United Nations Food Systems Summit (FSS) in September. The event provided ASEAN FSS country conveners with a platform to share game-changing solutions raised in National Food Systems Dialogues and emphasized the private sector’s role in building more sustainable and equitable food systems to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The workshop began with opening remarks from Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Economic Community Satvinder Singh, followed by keynote addresses from Acting Administrator of the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service Daniel Whitley and Former USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney. Mr.

During its National People’s Congress in early March, China was among the first signatories to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The Chinese government encouraged other signatories to swiftly ratify the groundbreaking agreement that ties 15 Asia-region economies to enable trade and integration. In all, RCEP stands to eliminate as much as 90 percent of tariffs over 20 years between its members that account for nearly 30 percent of world GDP.

The agreement will enter into force once at least six ASEAN and three non-ASEAN signatories undergo their respective ratification processes.  The target date for launching RCEP is the start of 2022.

The electronics industry is one where RCEP stands to make a meaningful impact. In most cases, trade in consumer electronics is already tariff-free thanks to the World Trade Organization’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA), enacted in 1996 and updated in 2015.