ASEAN- India free trade agreement: an assessment of merchandise exports and imports

The general objective of the present paper is to review the provisions in India-ASEAN FTA and merchandise exports and imports between both parties. This is expected to provide deeper insight in to the research questions about the structural transformation in exports and imports of India and ASEAN especially after the formation of ASEAN–India Free Trade Agreement. The present paper is also expected to provide an analysis about the direction of India’s trade with ASEAN. The study finds that almost all ASEAN countries use the FTA route to engage trade with India. Indian export baskets have not undergone changes even after the formation of the ASEAN –India FTA, but the import baskets have undergone a structural transformation during 2000-2014 period. Also imports grew faster than exports during the period of analysis. Major destinations of India’s exports are Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam while major sources of imports are Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Many of these countries enjoy greater productivity in agricultural sector as their farm production is incorporated in more capitalist production mode. The study finds that the lists are not prepared with scientific impact assessment techniques, where the non farming community largely represented by the organisation in this field during the trade negotiations will help them to put their commodities in the lists to which they are preference towards.