Talks to develop the RCEP trade deal, due to restart on July 24 in Hyderabad, are reported to be facing challenges from an India/China border dispute and competition from the TPP deal for political attention. Not all negotiating parties need to be onboard for a deal to be reached – India accounts for just 2% of Chinese imports, vs. 38% for the whole RCEP group. RCEP is primarily an ASEAN-plus-China deal, focussed on tariffs rather than a broad range of regulations and policies. It may be “easier” to deliver than TPP. The deal will help the RCEP partners’ exports to China, which have alre...