Blurring The Boundary Between Security And Protectionism: A Critical Assessment Of The Fragmentation Of The Asian Trading Order
Brajesh Raj & Ayushi Upadhyay, LL.M. (International Law), Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal, India
ABSTRACT
Trade liberalisation has long underpinned regional economic integration, and geopolitical rivalry is now testing it. States increasingly rely on export controls, tariffs, investment restrictions and supply-chain measures justified as economic security. The US–China rivalry has pushed these tools to the centre of Asian trade policy, while ASEAN states hedge between the two powers. The paper asks to what extent GATT Article XXI can accommodate legitimate economic-security measures without letting security justifications drive protectionist fragmentation, and what framework can reconcile economic resilience with regional integration in Asia. Using a doctrinal method and a bounded case study of the US–China rivalry, it argues that economic security should not serve as a blanket justification for protectionism. It proposes a four-factor test (nexus, necessity and proportionality, non-discrimination, and external review) drawing on WTO necessity analysis and on the CFIUS and EU investment-screening regimes. Applied to the case study, the test shows that some measures hold up and others do not. ASEAN's hedging depends on a more disciplined approach to Article XXI, and resilience and openness need not compete.
Keywords: Economic Security; Free Trade; Asian Trading Order; WTO; GATT Article XXI; Trade Fragmentation; Geopolitical Risks; Economic Resilience; Regional Economic Integration.
