India may have to take retaliatory measure if ASEAN fails to address the country’s long-standing concerns over non-tariff barriers as part of the ongoing review of Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which ends in 2025, commerce minister Piyush Goyal has told the Business Standard in an interview.
"If ASEAN countries give us a fair deal in terms of the review that will help us right-size the huge trade deficit. If they don't, we will have to look at the non-tariff barriers imposed on us and I will have to consider retaliatory measures," Goyal was quoted as saying by the Business Standard.
The minister cited unfair market access for Indian exporters and a growing trade deficit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has ballooned to $38.5 billion in FY24, as he pushed for address the matter urgently.
Goyal conveyed India's concerns at the ASEAN-India Economic Ministers' Meeting. He said one ASEAN country had imposed quotas on the number of Indian automobiles allowed for export. If ASEAN wouldn’t address these non-trade barriers, Indian would be forced to retaliate.
The FTA, which came into effect in 2010, has been criticised by India for not adequately addressing the trade imbalance, with imports from ASEAN nations growing faster than India's exports to the region.
Source: Money Control
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<p>Time: 2024 By: Ministry of Industry and Trade</p>
