Indian and ASEAN Officials to Hold Fresh Round of Trade Agreement Review

• India is preparing for the impact of U.S. tariffs of 25%, which began on August 7.

• A delegation from ASEAN will hold talks with Commerce Ministry officials from August 11 to 14, for the next round of talks on a review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).

• The talks come two months after Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal called the 2009 agreement “silly” due to India’s Asian competitors’ easy access to its markets.

• The two sides agreed to “fast-track” the AITIGA review to be completed by the end of this year.

• Officials are preparing for a possible visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN-India Summit and East Asia Summit, at the end of October.

• The push for a quick end to AITIGA review talks has been fueled by the imposition of 25% additional penalties on India by the U.S. last week.

• India’s trade balance with ASEAN has been increasingly unfavourable for India, with exports growing at an average annual rate of 1.7% to $39 billion and imports growing at 7.5% to $84.2 billion.