RCEP
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (ASEAN+6)
The secretary-general of Asean, expressed his confidence that the long-awaited RCEP will be completed in principle before Thailand’s chairmanship ends at the end of this year.
India has viewed FTAs as an important tool to enhance its trade and investment, and signed a number of trade agreements with various countries or groups. And India’s experience intrade with its major FTA partners has not been very encouraging.
Trade ministers of the 16-nation RCEP grouping will meet in Bangkok on October 10-12, in what could be the last ministerial before a potential deal is sealed in November.
The steel industry has expressed serious concern with Government inching close to signing Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which will open duty-free imports into the country from China.
New Zealand and Australia were negotiating "very hard" with India at RCEP-FTA to reduce duty on dairy products so that they can get access to the world’s largest market of dairy products.
China, Japan and South Korea agreed to push forward and speed up negotiations on the free trade area (FTA) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), as the three countries‘ foreign ministers met in Beijing on Wednesday.
India may cut or eliminate tariffs on 80% of products imported from China under a 16-country free trade agreement, the last round of negotiations for which is underway in Vietnam.
After seven years of tireless campaigning in Australia and across the region, the Malaysian Trade Minister announced that foreign investor rights to sue governments (ISDS) has been dropped from the RCEP agreement negotiations.
To sign the RCEP and start negotiations on a FTA with the US when the Indian economy is on the brink of economic downturn and needs strong domestic policies is a decision that is not in national or public interest.
The proposed agreement will have far-reaching consequences on dairying, agriculture and fishery sector sectors, says State Agriculture Minister
The deal will affect access to medicines and seeds by raising the standards of intellectual property rights, claims Forum of Trade Justice.
While India has not yet signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, it has accepted suggestions of other countries regarding rules on investments.
India continues to grapple with the dilemma of wanting to stay in the group while protecting the interests of its vulnerable sectors and is yet to reach an understanding with other members, including China, on market opening commitments.
As governments scramble to save RCEP, peoples from Southeast Asia have consolidated their strong opposition to this ambitious and unjust trade and investment agreement.
In the recent round of negotiations for RCEP, India pushed to include the Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism, or ATSM, which will automatically increase levies once imports cross a given threshold
A coalition of 61 NGOs has asked the government the reason for racing against the clock in concluding the world’s largest trade pact — the RCEP — with details “shrouded in secrecy”.
The different levels of digital trade development and readiness among the 16 countries currently negotiating the RCEP have placed e-commerce in a list of top major issues to be finalized in the coming months.
While there are clearly roadblocks to an agreement, there are also tailwinds — tailwinds that might never be stronger than they are right now.
Steel companies, already reeling under a demand slump, will be against another stumbling block in the form of the proposed RCEP trade agreement.
Joining the RCEP could be counter-productive given the existing inefficiencies of Indian producers. These need to be fixed first.
