On November 15th, the ten ASEAN countries and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, 15 countries formally signed the RCEP agreement.
The total population, economic output, and total exports of the 15 member states account for nearly one-third of the global total. This means that the world's largest free trade agreement is officially reached. The member states of RCEP are mainly committed to reducing tariffs to zero, and more than 90% of the goods trade will achieve zero tariffs. Moreover, China and Japan reached a bilateral tariff reduction arrangement for the first time. From the perspective of the global industrial chain, RCEP is conducive to the restoration of the industrial chain and supply chain of Asia-Pacific countries after the epidemic, and the reshaping of the division of labor within the regional value chain will benefit the truck industry to a certain extent.
On the whole, the reduction in the circulation cost of auto parts in RCEP member states will help enhance the competitiveness of RCEP member countries' external vehicles, promote further assembly of the Asian auto industry chain, and benefit the production of Asian vehicles.
According to the RCEP agreement, Japan is completely open to various parts and components, ASEAN offers a small reduction in tariffs, and China and South Korea provide preferential tariffs for some parts, but still maintain high tax rates for a small number of parts.
For the automotive industry, the signing of the agreement is undoubtedly a good change. The industrial chain can be further integrated, and truck sales prices will further drop. But for domestic self-owned brands, opportunities and crises coexist.
With the abolition of tariffs, the domestic price of imported Japanese trucks will drop significantly. At the same time, the price of some joint venture vehicles will also drop due to the decline in the prices of imported parts and components, and the price advantage of domestically-made models will also be greatly reduced. But at the same time, independent brands will also usher in new opportunities, that is, markets in other underdeveloped areas will also be open to independent brands. The fall or transformation in this transition for the better depends on the brand's own grasp.