FTAs: Learning from peers

India should emulate its peers and adopt more flexible negotiating approaches in its FTAs

In India’s free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the UK and EU over the last two months, the contentious elements have been reported to include tariff liberalisation, rules of origin, dispute settlement, and labour and environment provisions. These are all issues that have long been at the core of India’s inability to successfully negotiate FTAs, including the recent regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP). While India’s trade policy vis-à-vis FTAs remains beset by impediments, it may be useful to highlight how comparator emerging market economies adapted their trade policies with the evolving nature of FTAs over the last three decades.  

Tariff