The last round of meeting with the RCEP members, before a ministerial meeting next month, is being negotiated among 16 APAC countries. There is apprehension among the government departments that a trade deal on the current terms will lead to China dumping goods in India. Each country protects its own industries when negotiating Trade Agreements with other countries or Trading Blocks. For now, India has managed to keep the controversial investor-state dispute settlement out of the trade agreement. But, whether that would be permanently removed from the pact was still being deliberated. While the battle for a special auto-trigger mechanism seems to be bearing fruit, it remains to be seen whether India can make headway with the “origin of country” issue in this meet.
