- During India-China bilateral discussions,China has said they were willing to give duty-free access to 92% of Indian exports,provided India allow duty-free import of 85% of its products into China.India has offered to open up 74% of its market to Chinese goods in phases but China is not satisfied with the proposal.
- Import duty is a tax collected on imports by a country’s customs authorities. It is usually based on the imported good’s value.
- India offers lower concessions to China as compared to other countries where over 90% of imports can come duty-free.However, even the current arrangement deals with risk of Chinese goods dominating Indian markets, which would further impact the trade deficit estimated at $63 billion in the last financial year.
- The demand from the China comes when they are looking to create the world’s largest free-trade agreement under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
- RCEP is proposed mega trade pact between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing Free trade agreements(FTA’s)(Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
