Commerce Min to brief PM on RCEP on Friday

The commerce ministry will give a detailed presentation on the progress of the proposed mega free trade agreement RCEP to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, sources said. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement being negotiated by 16 countries which include India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and 10 ASEAN nations.

Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are the 10 ASEAN nations. Friday's meeting assumes significance as the member countries are targeting to conclude the negotiations by November this year.

Trade ministers of RCEP grouping will meet in Bangkok on September 8-9 to take stock of the situation. So far, 27 rounds of talks have already taken place but the member countries are yet to arrive at a decision regarding the number of goods on which import duties could be eliminated or significantly reduced.

Similarly, talks on liberalising rules for trade of services, a key area of interest for India, too are moving slowly. Indian industry has raised concerns over the presence of China in the grouping with which India has a trade deficit of over USD 50 billion. Various sectors, including dairy, metals, electronics, chemicals, and textiles, have urged the government not to agree to any duty cut in these sectors.

India has registered trade deficit in 2018-19 with as many as 11 RCEP countries, including China, South Korea and Australia. The proposed trade agreement aims to cover issues related to goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.

In merchandise sector, all members want India to eliminate customs duties on maximum number of goods as the country's huge domestic market provides immense opportunity for exports. India trades in over 11,500 products. Certain sensitive sectors like agriculture are mostly kept out of the purview of such agreements to protect the interest of farmers.

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