This is a classic case of a book which has been overtaken by events in the current state of world political and economic turmoil. It originated in a workshop held in Washington in 2013 and was completed before Donald Trump was elected president of the United States and, as one of his first acts in office, pulled his nation out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and subsequently launched a trade war with China. Trump is mentioned only once throughout, in the concluding chapter, where his claim in 2015 that ‘the TPP is a horrible deal’ is quoted. There is some recognition in the book that although the TPP had been signed, it still had to be ratified by the member governments, but the assumption running through the volume is that it would come into force. Although the authors are not alone in failing to anticipate the turn of events, it has totally changed the context of transpacific integration.

The TPP was intended as a high-level agreement between 12 countries (Canada, the United Sates, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and Japan) which would not only liberalise trade between the members but also cover ‘behind the border’ issues such as intellectual property rights, protection of foreign investment, the role of state-owned enterprises and labour and environmental standards. Following the withdrawal of the United States, the remaining 11 countries negotiated a new agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was signed in March 2018. While the new agreement maintained many of the elements of the TPP, it relaxed some of the measures which had been demanded by the United States in relation to intellectual property and foreign investment, for example.

Although the original workshop from which the book emerged was entitled ‘China, Latin America, and the Changing Architecture of TransPacific Engagement’ and was jointly organised by the Asia and the Americas Section of the Latin American Studies Association and Inter-American Dialogue's China and Latin America Programme, the focus of the book is not primarily on Latin America. Only two of the ten chapters, by Ariel Armony, Nashira Chávez and Adrian Hearn on ‘Latin American Visions of Transpacific Integration’ and Barbara Kotschwar on ‘Contending Visions: The TPP, the Pacific Alliance, and RCEP [Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership]’, look in any detail at the region.

Much of the book is concerned either explicitly or implicitly with relations between China and the United States in Asia. The TPP was seen by some of its advocates and critics in geo-strategic terms as part of President Barack Obama's ‘Pivot to Asia’, designed to counteract growing Chinese influence in the region. Several chapters compare the TPP, which excluded China, with the RCEP which, although led by ASEAN, included China and was seen as much more consistent with Chinese views of integration in the region. The US withdrawal from the TPP makes the question of how far these two schemes are in conflict or can complement each other less relevant today.

Three of the chapters focus on specific aspects of the TPP and relate to debates on global governance. Kevin Gallagher argues that trade and investment agreements should provide the policy space necessary for countries to prevent and mitigate financial crises and engage in sovereign debt restructuring. Chapters 8 and 9, by Alan and Josephine Smart and by Adrian Hearn, discuss agricultural issues. These provide valuable insights into the broader questions of economic integration that go beyond the TPP.

Returning to Latin America, it is noted that the three countries from the region that participated in the TPP – Mexico, Peru and Chile – are also members of the Pacific Alliance. The fourth Pacific Alliance country, Colombia, was not eligible for TPP membership since it was not part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. This further complicates the ‘noodle bowl’ of overlapping agreements which affect trade and investment in the region.

This collection is likely to be of more interest to students of international political economy and international relations than to Latin Americanists and then as a snapshot of thinking and debates at a particular point in time.