Washington DC, October 4: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, has spoken out against India's previous involvement in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations, stating that the country was "forced" to join the grouping by 'then government' (Congress). The minister stated this during a press address on the sidelines of his 4-day US visit, which concluded on Thursday.

"RCEP is a grouping of 15 countries. India already had an FTA with the ten ASEAN countries... So with 12 out of those 15 countries, we already had an FTA ... We were at an advanced stage of negotiation but we aborted it," the commerce minister said. "India was forced to join that group, RCEP, by executive action of the then government," he added. Piyush Goyal Delivers Keynote on 'India's Evolving Manufacturing Landscape' at CSIS Event.

He emphasised that joining RCEP would have essentially been a free trade agreement (FTA) with China, allowing China to "dump goods into India" and exacerbate the trade deficit. "Basically, it was getting India to do an FTA with China and imagine what that would have cost India," he noted.

Goyal highlighted the significant growth in India's trade deficit with China between 2004 and 2014. "The import duties were reduced from 2004-2014, which helped China dump goods into India. Our trade deficit increased from 2004 to 2014 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42.85 per cent. If that did not kill manufacturing, then what did?" In contrast, Goyal pointed out that from 2014 to 2024, India's trade deficit with China grew at a much slower rate. "Whereas from 2014 to 2024, our trade deficit with China grew only by 6.45 per cent CAGR," he said. People Responsible for China's Growing Influence in Indian Industry Choosing to Defend China Story, Says Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

Goyal criticised the previous government for not recognising the harm caused to India's growth story. "It's extremely sad that certain governments, who are responsible for this problem in the first place, don't even recognise and understand how they have hurt and damaged the India growth story," he said. ASEAN is one of the major trade partners of India, with a share of 11 per cent in India's global trade. The bilateral trade stood at USD 122.67 Bn during 2023-24. The upgrade of AITIGA will further boost bilateral trade. Both sides would next meet for the 5th Joint Committee meeting from 29-31 July 2024 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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