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Officials said India has learned it demanded better market access in order to be part of the trade pillar of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a 14-country trade bloc. Renewed deliberations within the FTM have learned to focus on whether New Delhi should first commit to joining even if there is a lack of clarity on specific gains or instead join now, with 13 countries already negotiating on the fine print, and if India is. To join later, may be at a disadvantage losing the negotiations.
So far, the official said, market access has not been agreed for India, which is seen as a critical factor for joining the trade pillar (the first column). India has observer status in the trade pillar negotiations.
These developments follow the conclusion of text-based negotiations under the Supply Chain Pillar (Pillar II) at the second Ministerial Meeting in May in the United States. India is in three other pillars under IPEF. The second pillar of supply chains is very important, and we have finalized it. For the pillar of trade, we demand better market access. “We are also seeing how we can negotiate better,” a senior government official told the Indian Express.
Launched in May last year in Tokyo, IPEF brings together 14 partner countries including Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States with the aim of enhancing economic engagement among member states to drive growth, peace and prosperity in the region.
The IPEF framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade (Pillar I); supply chains (the second pillar); clean economy (third pillar); and the just economy (fourth pillar). India joined Pillars II to IV of the IPEF while it had withdrawn from Pillar I in September last year and now has observer status in Pillar I.
“Under the trade pillar of the IPEF, they haven’t given market access yet. They are asking India to sign on to the trade pillar, but it’s still not quite clear what we will get if we sign on to it. Earlier too, India felt we weren’t getting much from it. The environmental and labor laws were strict The official said that some other countries find these conditions strict and are negotiating them as well.
The IPEF bloc of 14 countries is seen as crucial because it accounts for about 40 percent of global GDP and 28 percent of global trade in goods and services, and is seen as a US-backed economic and trade strategy to counter China. economic influence in the region. India was earlier reluctant to join Pillar I in light of concerns over protection of the domestic agricultural, labor and digital sectors without being quite sure of the impact of joining the IPEF.
The fourth round of negotiations on IPEF for all axes is currently under way from 9-15 July which Korea is hosting in Busan. The first round of negotiations was held in Australia in December 2022, followed by a special negotiation round on Pillars II to IV in India in February 2023. The second round of negotiations was held in Indonesia in March 2023, followed by the third round of negotiations in Singapore in May 2023. On May 27, IPEF partners met in Detroit, Michigan at a ministerial meeting.
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