India Force ASEAN To Change Free Trade Agreement -Free PDF

Table of Contents

UNDERSTANDING BASICS

The ASEAN–India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) is a free trade area among the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India.
At the Second ASEAN-India Summit in 2003, the ASEAN-India Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperationwas signed by the Leaders of ASEAN and India. The Framework Agreement laid a sound basis for the eventual establishment of an ASEAN-India Regional Trade and Investment Area (RTIA), which includes FTA in goods, services, and investment.

In the financial year 2017–18, Indo-ASEAN bilateral trade grew by almost 14% to reach US$81.3 billion.
India’s imports from ASEAN were valued at US$47.13 billion while its exports to ASEAN stood at US$34.2 billion.

India is concerned and wants to review FTAs, as several Chinese goods are dumped in its markets through a third country with which the nation has an agreement, a government official said requesting anonymity.
The review is necessary, as many items enter Indian markets taking advantage of Asean-India FTA. Imports at reduced or zero duty put the domestic industry at a major disadvantage, the official said.

One of the barriers to increased trade are ASEAN’s tariffs barriers. According to reporting from the Times of India, while India has offered Indonesia lower customs duty on nearly 75 percent of its products, Indonesia had lowered duties on only 50 percent of Indian exports.
India is also treated differently in the ASEAN market when compared to other regional neighborswho have an economic agreement with the regional grouping; for example, Japanese car imports face a five percent duty in Thailand and Indonesia while a 35 percent tariff is imposed on Indian automobiles. Similar tariff discrimination is observed on Indian rice exports when compared to treatment enjoyed by intra-ASEAN traders.

The government’s threat to pull out of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Asean
The ASEAN countries are finally ready for the talks