‘Don’t Get Trapped Like Indonesia’: GTRI Alarms India Against Bowing To US Trade Pressure | World News
New Delhi: While India continued to discover a bilateral trade agreement with the US, a leading thinking tank raised red flags about the direction of negotiations. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) warned Indian policy makers not to fall into the same pattern as Indonesia, which has recently signed what GTRI called Washington a “one -sided” trade agreement with Washington.
In a report published on Wednesday, GTRI described the US-Endonezia agreement intensely distorted in favor of American interests. The group drew attention to the US’s aggressive pressure tactics and said that similar dynamics can play in the case of India unless it approaches with careful and long -term planning.
“The US-Endonezia Trade Agreement offers a clear example of how intense the US pressure can be in unstable results,” the report said in the report.
What did Indonesia accepted
The recent trade agreement requires Eliminating 99% of Indonesia’s tariffs in US goods and opening its markets to a wide range of US products from industrial and technology to agricultural products. On the other hand, the United States will apply a 19% tariff to Indonesian exports from an initially proposed 40%, but still from an important barrier.
According to GTRI, Indonesia has committed to purchase $ 22.7 billion American goods. This is liquefied oil gas, crude oil and gasoline energy imports of $ 15 billion; 4.5 billion dollars for agricultural products such as soybean, wheat and cotton; And 3.2 billion dollars were allocated for the Boeing aircraft.
The report also states that Indonesia agreed to dismantle local content rules that have previously required foreign companies to weld locally. When these guards are removed, small and medium -sized Indonesian enterprises may lose on demand from larger companies that can now directly weld from abroad.
Another important concern is that he asks questions about transparency and economic security, forcing US companies to explain whether their materials come from countries like China.
Vehicle standards, digital rules and reproduced goods
The agreement also forces Indonesia to accept American automotive security and emissions standards. This enables automobile manufacturers to export directly to the Indonesian market without changing. However, Indonesian automobile companies will still have to comply with the US rules to sell in the United States.
In addition, Jakarta agreed to abolish restrictions on reproduced goods, which the fear of GTRI could lead to the flow of cheap and second -hand machines. They say that this can harm the industries of local engineering and capital goods that cannot compete with lower cost -effective renewed imports.
Why should India pay attention to
According to GTRI, the United States wants to multiply the aspects of this agreement in its negotiations with India. Among some suggestions on the table, the opening of India’s agricultural and milk sectors allows genetically modified animal feed and loosen digital trade and product standards in accordance with US preferences.
“They will reshape, not small adjustments, but how India manages food safety, digital privacy and the local industry,” he said.
US President Donald Trump, who restored a mutual tariff policy in his second period, was vocal in order to ensure that the US has a fair agreement in trade partnerships. The administration implemented a 10% start tariff from April to July after a 90 -day suspension, which aims to negotiate countries like India.
He also made it clear that the US will match the tariffs of another country, including India, on behalf of Adil Trade. An important tariff for India for August 1 has been determined.
High -level talks continue
In the midst of these developments, a senior delegation from the Indian Ministry of Trade and Industry went to Washington DC to continue to work on a potential bilateral trade agreement. As Trump approached rapidly, the talks gained urgency.
GTRI stressed that India should ensure that any final agreement should be analyzed, especially in sensitive areas such as health, food safety and intellectual property.
“India should only accept fair and mutual terms. Concessions that prefer short -term gains at the expense of long -term economic control may become obliged,” he said.
