Indian media talks about the three major flaws of the "Indo -Pacific Economic Framework"

Gong Hui International Issue Scholar

On May 23, US President Bynden officially launched the "Indo -Pacific Economic Framework" (IPEF) in Tokyo, Japan, and attracted 13 countries including India to become the initial member states. As we all know, India has always implemented a strict trade protection policy. Three years ago, after experiencing multiple rounds of negotiations, it unilaterally announced the withdrawal of the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (RCEP), which shocked a group of regional partners. Participating in the US -led IPEF this time seems to show the ambition of India's return to the "circle of friends". However, under the bright coat, IPEF's various defects and risks that cannot be ignored made Indian media question and worry.

The first is that the standard formulation cannot be ignored. India's "Financial Express" believes that it is best not to be too optimistic about IPEF. India and the United States may have a lot of differences in standard consistency. This framework involves only issues such as data, environment, labor, etc., but there is no discussion on tariffs on damp -exemption and exemptions that are concerned about regional countries. This determines that India meets a lot of challenges in the current economic situation.

The "Economic Express" and "India's Weekly" and other media pointed out that the key principles of the four pillars of the IPEF tough economy, interconnection economy, cleaning economy and fair economy are the common "standards" by the United States, but the positions and regional countries' positions and regional countries The United States is generally different, so it is unwilling to make commitments in these areas. For example, India has always opposed the incorporation of labor and environmental standards into the trade agreement. It follows its unique policy framework in terms of cross -border data flow, localization of data, and data privacy. India will not accept the decontamination target that may run counter to the "Paris Agreement". If the United States impose the above factors as the common goal, it will become a major obstacle for IPEF to advance.

India's "Business Standards" reported that there are many traps in the rules formulated by the United States. For a long time, India does not want any free trade agreement it to adopt Western national standards, and IPEFs need to realize regulatory consistency just on this red line of India. "India Express" and Indian Business Online website reports that the IPEF rules are obviously formulated by the United States, and the future direction will also be led by the United States. India focuses on localization of data. This is a problem that India has always avoided all the free trade agreements it participated in, because they do not want to lose data sovereignty. So far, India has refused to participate in the discussion of the multilateral rules of e -commerce. But last month, the United States pointed out in a trade evaluation report that the localization of data proposed by India will become a major obstacle to digital trade between the two countries and will become a barriers to market access.

The second is that geopolitical colors cannot be ignored. The Economic Times commented article pointed out that IPEF is ultimately a "political arrangement" led by the United States. "Degan Pioneer" said that India's concern for IPEF is that it is unwilling to be considered to contain China with the United States. India has clarified the relevant position to the United States, and repeatedly emphasized that its vision for the establishment of IPEF is "free, open, and inclusive India." It is reported that the United States has modified the official official statement of the IPEF startup to reduce Indian concerns, and then India agrees to participate in the launching ceremony.

India's "Commercial Standards" commented article saying that the political attributes contained in IPEF have caused widespread concern, and India may not be an ideal participant under current conditions. In the briefing of the US Strategy and International Issues Research Center (CSIS), the Bayeng government described IPEF as an initiative to help the United States compete with China in the Asia -Pacific region. Regional countries are generally worried that IPEFs are not a sincere or thoughtful economic plan, but mainly a political strategy to fight against China. The geopolitical meaning of IPEF is too obvious, and the addition of India will definitely bring severe challenges to its future foreign policy orientation. While deciding to join the IPEF, India clearly states that maintaining regional peace is the primary task of IPEF. Without peace, it is impossible to achieve economic prosperity, which exactly indicates that India has foreseen the risks.

Third, the risk of credibility cannot be ignored. The Economic Times pointed out that the US midterm elections will be held in November 2022, and IPEF negotiations are almost impossible to make effective progress before that. Considering that the inflation of the United States has continued to intensify and the support rate of Biden has reached a record low, every country involved in negotiations will question the promise made by US leaders. In addition, the turmoil of the US domestic politics has also caused people to worry about the persistence of IPEF. The Obama administration has pushed the cross -Pacific partnership agreement (TPP), but then Trump, who was subsequently took office, announced his withdrawal from the agreement unilaterally, and the wayward and arrogant actions made regional partners still remember it. If this new plan that has been bragging has failed again, it may have caused a greater impact on the reputation of the United States in the Asian financial sector.

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