New Delhi: India is pressing ahead with talks to join a China-led free trade pact, officials said Thursday, despite the fears of some domestic producers that the country would be flooded with cheaper Chinese imports.
Negotiators for the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are in the Thai capital Bangkok this week for talks aimed at finalising the giant free trade zone by the end of the year.
Trade Minister Piyush Goyal will join Indian delegates on the weekend for direct talks with his counterparts from China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Indian producers fear cutting tariffs on dairy and other produce would open the door to cheap Chinese imports and threaten an agriculture sector that supports most of India’s 1.3 billion people.
The RCEP includes the 10 members of the ASEAN grouping of Southeast Asian nations and six Asia-Pacific countries — China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Aside from agriculture products, critics say cheaper Chinese mobile phones, steel, engineering goods and toys could also flood the Indian market. Government officials say the treaty would enable Indian industry to join global supply chains for high-end goods such as electronics and engineering. Greater access to overseas markets would help offset an economic slowdown at home. RCEP is a mega free trade agreement of 10 ASEAN countries with their six FTA partners, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The pact aims to cover the trade in goods and services, as well as investment, intellectual property and dispute resolution.
