ABSTRACT

The EVSL initiative was significant for Japan, one of APEC’s core member economies, as well as the regional institution itself. The modality of EVSL, which was an unprecedentedly aggressive trade liberalization initiative for APEC, was incompatible with what Japan had believed was the institution’s principle or philosophy – voluntarism – and it was the first and only thing regarding APEC that the country objected to and invalidated.