On Wednesday, representative from several large IT companies met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi to discuss non-tariff barriers On Wednesday, representative from several large IT companies met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi to discuss non-tariff barriers

India may only agree to the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) pact, if partner countries like China resolve its trade deficit with India by providing more market access. “India’s concerns regarding market access and other issues leading to imbalanced trade between some of the partner countries was specifically flagged during the meetings,” a Commerce Ministry release said on Saturday.

“During the meeting with ASEAN economic ministers, the Commerce Secretary highlighted the importance of services trade which supports both goods trade and investment,” it further said.

While negotiations for the proposed mega trade agreement have been on in Beijing this week, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan raised specific bilateral trade issues with his counterparts as well as trade ministers from other RCEP member countries on the sidelines.

These include demand for greater access in China for Indian exports of pharmaceuticals, agricultural products and resolving service-sector related issues in the IT and ITeS industries that were raised with Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal earlier this week, said an official.

Explained Govt may not ink pact unless trade deficit addressed India is already suffering from a trade deficit with most RCEP countries and the industry here fears such a deal would not make Indian products more competitive, instead flood the Indian market with cheaper products from other member countries. The bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the latest round of negotiations may be a sign that India is willing to dismiss the deal if other countries, especially China, do not heed its calls to right its goods and services trade imbalance with them.

In his meeting with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen, Wadhawan emphasised the importance of an RCEP agreement “that would duly address the causes of existing trade imbalances,” the release said.

“He used this opportunity to flag bilateral market access related issues on various categories of products in which discussions are ongoing between India and China. He also emphasised the importance of easing the business visas regime of China for Indian business travelers,” it added.

Similar requests for greater market access for Indian goods and services were made to Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita and South Korean Trade Minister Myung Hee Yoo. India currently has $53.6 billion trade deficit with China, around $10.6 billion deficit with Indonesia and $12 billion with South Korea. The domestic industries have raised fears about Chinese products potentially flooding the Indian market if it agrees to join RCEP.

On Wednesday, representative from several large IT companies met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi to discuss non-tariff barriers that prevented them from growing their business in China, including visa-related issues.

Wadhawan attended the RCEP ministerial meet in Beijing in place of Goyal, who passed on it to attend the extended Parliament session here. The Minister had last month conducted “marathon” meetings in Mumbai and New Delhi with members of all Indian industries to understand concerns and issues that he would take forward to the RCEP meet.

The Commerce Secretary also requested Thailand, with which India has around $3 billion trade deficit, “to improve its offer in goods and services under RCEP”. He also sought Singapore’s support in operationalising the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on nursing, signed between the two countries in June 2018. India’s deficit with Singapore is around $4.7 billion.

Meanwhile, according to the latest joint statement following the intersessional ministerial meeting on August 2-3, in 2018, the RCEP region grew by 5.6 per cent, “slightly moderated” from 5.8 per cent the previous year.

RCEP covered 47.4 per cent of the global population, 32.2 per cent of the global economy, 29.1 per cent of global trade, and 32.5 per cent of global investment flows last year.

Over the last three rounds, the Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) made headway in “both market access and text-based negotiations,” as per the statement.

“The ministers, in particular, welcomed the conclusion of the annexes on Telecommunication Services, Financial Services, and Professional Services, bringing a total number of seven concluded chapters and three concluded annexes, and noted that some of the remaining chapters or annexes are nearing conclusion.

“The Ministers were pleased to note that over two thirds of market access negotiations have reached mutually satisfactory outcomes, and that work on the remaining areas are being intensified through constructive engagements at all levels,” it stated.

The sixth RCEP Intersessional TNC Meeting and Related Meetings will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia later this month. The ministers will reconvene for the seventh annual RCEP Ministerial Meeting in September in Bangkok, Thailand. RCEP is a mega free trade agreement being negotiated between 10 ASEAN group nations, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. India has until November to join the agreement.

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