RCEP TRADE NEGOTIATIONS ON STICKY GROUND?

RCEP TRADE NEGOTIATIONS ON STICKY GROUND

Context :

RCEP countries are expected to finalize the free trade agreement among their member countries by November 2019.
The Leaders Summit will be held on November 4th in Bangkok, Thailand.

What is RCEP?

Members: It includes 10 ASEAN members as well as India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.

RCEP consists of 47 % of the World Population, one-third of the global GDP and 27% of global trade.

Advantages of RCEP :

1. It will bring stability to trade relations in an area where such ties have historically been unpredictable.

2. The free trade agreement between the signatories would open up markets of each of the partner countries to the others.

3. This free trade agreement can act as a counterbalance to the APEC and other regional trading blocs like NAFTA, MERCOSUR, etc.

4. This agreement can promote the rise of the Asian century.

5. It will also decrease the dependence on multilateral trade Institutions like WTO, by developing countries, which are dominated by developed countries.

Issues:

1. Domination of China in this trade bloc can make the members to side against the US.

2. It can impact India's trade relationship with the USA.

India's issues with RCEP:

1. China can get greater access to Indian markets.

2. Cheap imports from China will increase and it will impact India's domestic industry adversely.

3. Presently India imposes safeguard duty on solar panel and anti dumping duties on steel, but from the various RCEP negotiations that have taken place, India has to reduce duties on 80 % of items imported from China.

4. RCEP agreement can impact India's industry, agriculture and Dairy sectors.
( India would have to cut duties on 86% of imports from Australia and New Zealand and 90% of products from Asia, Japan and South Korea)

5. The Indian government cannot mandate the investing company to Transfer Technology and know-how to its Indian partners.

6. The Indian government cannot set cap on royalties an Indian Company can pay to its foreign partner.
( it can lead to force the transfer of Huge royalty sums to foreign partners instead of paying dividends to Indian shareholders)

7. The E-Commerce chapter would be against India's data localisation plans.

Source: THE HINDU

Join Our Telegram

Rohingyas to be moved to Bhansan Char

HOW INSECTS, PESTS WIPE OF AJANTA CAVE PAINTING ?

Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a and MASS EXTINCTION

25 Dec, 24
SHARE

Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a from the Paris Basin (Environment) Paper-3 PMP OAE 1a refers to a period during the Cretaceous Period (145 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago) when Earth's oceans became depleted of oxygen, causing a significant disruption in marine life. Cause: The event is believed to have been

Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi (Good governance)

26 Dec, 24
SHARE

Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi (Good governance) Governance GS PAPER-2 PMP Dr. Jitendra Singh launched the ‘Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi’ initiative on Good Governance Day, celebrated to mark the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The initiative, which is part of the broader ‘Prashasan Gaon

Major programmes to control Air Pollution

23 Dec, 24
SHARE

Major programmes to control Air Pollution National Clean Air Programme? It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019. It is the first-ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target. The

Air pollution and Air quality Measures in India

21 Dec, 24
SHARE

Air pollution and Air quality Measures in India (Environment) GS Paper-3 P-M-P Air pollution may be defined as the presence of any solid, liquid or gaseous substance including noise and radioactive radiation in the atmosphere in such concentration that may be directly and/or indirectly injurious to humans or other l

Geopolitical Significance of Ports

20 Dec, 24
SHARE

Geopolitical Significance of Ports (IR) Act as Geopolitical Assets: Ports enhance the projection of strategic reach, which helps strengthen the country’s control over important sea and energy supply routes. E.g. Indian Navy’s staging base at Agalega Islands will enable marine patrols