Asks govt to stick to no-tariff offer on 42% of items, instead of 90% demanded by Beijing
Negotiations for concluding the ambitious Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) pact this year are in full swing, but the Indian manufacturing sector continues to be apprehensive of competition from China and is demanding higher protection.
Representatives of the Indian industry, including steel, automobile and the engineering goods sectors, have asked the government to restrict market opening offers for China under the mega trade pact between 16 nations to about 42 per cent instead of over 90 per cent being demanded by the Beijing.
“In a recent meeting with the Commerce Ministry, industry representatives said that tariff elimination on 74 per cent items for China being considered by India was too high and would make the Indian industry vulnerable. Instead, India should stick to its initial offer of 42 per cent,” an official told BusinessLine.
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Not much benefit
The industry argues that since it has not benefitted much from the existing free trade pacts with the ASEAN, Japan and South Korea, there was little hope that a pact involving China, which already has a huge trade surplus with India, would be useful if most import tariffs are eliminated. In fact, the concern is that many sectors, with small-scale players, may be wiped out.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine
