Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide had to cancel his official visit to India in May 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the Suga government has greatly appreciated the economic and strategic partnership with New Delhi in the Indo-Pacific region. In a video message at the inauguration ceremony of the Varanasi International Cooperation and Congress Center (VICCC) on July 17, 2021, Suga said that “India and Japan share the same core values and the two countries have maintained cordial relations throughout the long history of exchanges.” In the interest of the bilateral strategic partnership and the goal of the free and open Indo-Pacific vision, the Japanese government would continue to wait for India to be fully ready to return to the world`s largest free trade framework, which could facilitate greater economic integration in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan has been conducting ongoing negotiations with several countries since 2012 on a Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership Free Trade Agreement, including: In October 2019, the United States and Japan signed the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement and the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement, which entered into force on January 1, 2020. The U.S.-Japan trade agreement eliminates or lowers tariffs on about $7.2 billion of U.S. agricultural exports, and the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement includes high-quality provisions that ensure data can be transferred across borders without restrictions, ensure consumer privacy protection, promote adherence to common principles to address cybersecurity challenges and support the effective use of encryption technologies. and boosting digital trade. Given that the Indian economy is plagued by trade deficits and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unlikely that New Delhi will join RCEP at this time or at this time. But Indian analysts have also suggested that the Indian government should consider a return to RCEP in the future. For example, Jagannath Panda, a researcher and coordinator of the East Asia Center at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, argued that India`s return to RCEP is “politically and economically desirable” for all affected countries, stressing that “the urgent conditions created by the coronavirus should encourage India to have a new perspective on return. RCEP is an inclusive model that should not overlook India`s interests or the benefits of RCEP. India is the 12th.
Country that has signed a free trade agreement with Japan, and the largest by its economy to date. Despite the size of their economies, Japan and India had limited trade, which amounted to about $15 billion in 2010, or only one percent of Japan`s global trade. Mining, fishing and some Indian agricultural products must lift their tariffs. India will maintain tariffs on assembled vehicles to protect its auto industry, but will gradually dismantle trade barriers for auto parts. Japan and India have signed a bilateral free trade agreement that would eliminate tariffs on more than 90 percent of trade for a decade. Delhi has free trade agreements with the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Sri Lanka and other bilateral agreements with Malaysia and Thailand. It has a more comprehensive economic agreement with South Korea. India also plans to sign an agreement with the European Union later this year. The business community, which has been awaiting the agreement since the start of negotiations in January 2007, welcomes the signing. Tadashi Okamura, president of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the agreement would “develop mutually complementary relations.” A list of other trade agreements and EPAs concluded by Japan, as well as those under negotiation, can be found on this link from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Meanwhile, India decided to vote against RCEP in November 2019 amid negotiations.
India is the fifth largest economy in the world with a GDP of $2.8 trillion, but it has been overshadowed by the Chinese economy, and ASEAN`s total economic output is higher than India`s. New Delhi has failed to take advantage of other free trade agreements with RCEP countries, with the exception of China. The U.S. economic approach to India has similar structural considerations. India increased tariffs on some information and communication technology (ICT) products, such as mobile phones and communication devices, from about 2014. In recent years, India has increased the rates applied to bound rates committed to in connection with its accession to the WTO Agreement. The United States, Japan and several other countries have asked the WTO to settle disputes over India`s tariff-raising measures on ICT products. In June 2019, the United States withdrew India from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which grants duty-free tariff treatment to qualified developing countries because it does not provide “fair and adequate” market access.
In terms of services, the US is addressing India`s barriers to market access investment, location requirements, and restrictions on e-commerce. In addition, India`s weak intellectual property (IP) requirements for data storage hamper foreign direct investment in the United States. Under the Trump administration, the United States and India negotiated a trade deal to resolve immediate trade conflicts in the first phase, with the aim of turning it into a comprehensive agreement. The US is seeking to increase its agricultural and energy exports in exchange for the partial restoration of India`s GSP status. Negotiations for the two phases have not been concluded, and it is not clear at this stage how the Biden administration will proceed with the same Indian government. For India, the pact “would provide a comprehensive framework to promote our economic cooperation on trade and investment,” Sharma said. He adds, “It will be rewarding for India and Japan.” Japan had also concluded Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with these 14 countries, as well as with ASEAN: since Indonesian President Yudhoyono has been in India, the two countries have pledged to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism by signing an extradition treaty and announcing the opening of free trade negotiations. (25.01.2011) Information on sectoral agreements between the United States and Japan is available on the website of the Department of Law Enforcement and Trade Compliance. On 23 October 2020, Japan and the United Kingdom signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The two governments had previously agreed by videoconference on 11 September on this agreement, largely based on the Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and the European Union. The trade agreement between Japan and the United Kingdom has not yet been approved by the Japanese Parliament and the United Kingdom.
Parliament, which both governments should receive by the end of the year for entry into force on 1 January 2021. A full text of the agreement is available from the Japanese Foreign Office (here) and a summary from the UK government (here). After a meeting in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that they would increase bilateral trade by more than 50 percent over the next two years. (11.12.2010) on 15. In November 2020, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was signed by 15 countries, with the flagrant exception of India. RCEP is a regional free trade agreement (FTA) whose negotiations were initiated in 2012 by ASEAN and six partner countries, namely Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. The signing of RCEP finally came after eight years of negotiations, but India decided to withdraw from the pact in the final stages of the negotiations. Describes the trade agreements in which this country is involved.
Provides resources for U.S. companies to obtain information on the use of these agreements. The problems India faces in the RCEP negotiations and bilateral negotiations between the US and India have much in common. Japan and the United States can work closely together to ensure that India can meet the requirements of rules-based, free and fair economic governance in the Indo-Pacific. .
