A top India-centric American business advocacy group has suggested finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to lower tariff in the Union budget if the country wants to compete with China-backed mega free trade agreement — the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
China and 14 other countries in November last year established the world’s largest trading bloc that represents roughly 30 per cent of the world’s GDP and population.
India walked out of the mega free trade agreement as negotiations failed to address New Delhi’s concerns.
The members of RCEP are 10-nation bloc Asean (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
“If India can focus on a much more predictable environment from a policy framework, it will give more confidence to the investors. Bringing a sense of transparency in policy making also sends a very positive signal. And if India is going to be competing, especially with the RCEP, then it has to look at lowering its tariff,” Mukesh Aghi, president of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF).
Pointing that in the last 12 months tariffs in India have been going up steadily, he said, “It is important to protect the local industry, but it is also important to make them more competent intervals. Lowering of tariff is important.”
