India will examine the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to see how it benefits or hurts the economy. The country is under pressure by RCEP partners to have a stronger commitment to liberalise its goods trade. Domestic industry and even certain ministries, including steel, have been critical of the RCEP deal and fear dumping, especially by China.

From steel to pharmaceuticals, industries have been criticising India’s existing trade agreements with Asean, Japan and South Korea on the grounds that India’s deficit with these countries have only widened after these pacts came into force and there is little for domestic industry to benefit from. Also, India has a record $63 billion trade deficit with China. If, on top of this, a free trade agreement with China is effected through the RCEP (of which China is a key member), cheap products are expected to flood the market.

The pharma industry, too, fears that cheap Chinese products will have unrestricted entry to India. China is the biggest contributor to India’s trade deficit with all RCEP partners. The scrapping of tariff lines means import duties on specified items would be cut to zero over a mutually agreed-upon time frame. India remains anxious over potential losses from the mega deal.