India opts out of IPEF's trade pillar, to wait for final contours

Los Angeles, September 10

India has, as of now, opted out of the trade pillar of the 14-member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), but has decided to join the remaining three subjects pertaining to supply chains, clean economy and fair economy.

40% of global GDP

• The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo
• The 14 IPEF partners represent 40 per cent of global GDP and 28 per cent of global goods and services trade

Briefing the media after the conclusion of the two-day IPEF ministerial meet here, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India would continue to engage with the trade track in the IPEF and would wait for the final contours to be decided on the trade pillar before it formally joins that pillar. “On one pillar which deals primarily with trade, the contours of the framework particularly any commitments required on environment, labour, digital trade, public procurement are certain areas in which a broader consensus has yet to emerge amongst all nations. “We have yet to see what benefits member countries will derive and whether any conditions on, for example, the environment…may discriminate against developing countries who have the imperative to provide low-cost and affordable energy to meet the needs of a growing economy,” Goyal said. All other 13 Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for prosperity countries have joined the four pillars — trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy.