RCEP and the China-Japan Tariff Relationship: First Concessions in Two Decades

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jnme.202610418

Author(s)

Chang Tingting

Affiliation(s)

School of Marxism, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing, China

Abstract

This paper examines the tariff concessions exchanged between China and Japan under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - the first such arrangement in over two decades. Drawing on RCEP's country-pair schedules, peer-reviewed sectoral analyses, and 2023–24 utilisation data from Japan, China, and South Korea, the paper documents three findings. First, both sides will eventually liberalise roughly 86-88 % of tariff lines, with most cuts phased over ten to twenty years. Second, sectoral gains concentrate in autos, electronics, textiles, and selected agriculture, while politically sensitive products remain excluded. Third, early utilisation shows Japanese importers adopting preferences rapidly, while Chinese utilisation stays in the low single digits. The paper argues that RCEP establishes a floor rather than a ceiling for Sino-Japanese trade liberalisation - significant as an institutional precedent, yet constrained by design and by the broader geopolitical environment.

Keywords

RCEP; China-Japan Tariff Concessions; Rules of Origin; Trade Liberalisation; Regional Integration

References

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