CNBC reports that an economist from HSBC said that given its absence in the world’s largest trade agreement, the U.S. might want to “keep some of the doors open” with the participating Asia-Pacific countries by negotiating bilateral deals with them.

China and 14 Asia-Pacific countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, on Sunday. Some analysts said the deal is a geopolitical win for China in the region.

“What the U.S. might do ... is strike more bilateral deals, bilateral agreements with individual RCEP members — not all of them but with some of them, just to keep some of the doors open,” Frederic Neumann, HSBC’s managing director, told CNBC.

Participating countries in RCEP include the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their top trading partners China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Among them, the U.S. only has bilateral trade deals with South Korea, Australia and Singapore, according to the Department of State.