Quicktake
Why China Is Creating a New Asia-Pacific Trade Pact: QuickTake
A group photo during the 3rd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit in Bangkok on Nov. 4.
Photographer: MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
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First President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 12-nation, pan-Pacific trade deal known as the TPP. Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi pulled India out of another regional grouping led by China known as the RCEP. In both cases, protectionism played a part; in both cases, the show went on without them. With the 15-country RCEP deal now signed, the question is what the impact will be on American and Chinese efforts to boost their clout -- and business -- across Asia.