Member nations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are eager to get it up and running. RCEP encompasses China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Negotiations for the trade deal began in 2013. If realized, RCEP would cover half the world's population and about 30 per cent of global trade.

Negotiations have not gone smoothly, however. A wide gap remains between nations seeking substantial free trade, including Australia and Japan, and those cautious about opening markets rapidly, such as China and India. Progress has been made in some areas. For example, Japan and China are close to an agreement on tariffs. About 90 per cent of products are expected to be tariff free.

But India is hesitant to eliminate tariffs which may lead to an influx of Chinese goods, causing its trade deficit to balloon. Domestic industry and even certain ministries, including steel, have been critical of the RCEP deal and fear dumping, especially by China.

China is the biggest contributor to India’s trade deficit with all RCEP partners. The scrapping of tariff lines means import duties on specified items would be cut to zero over a mutually agreed-upon time frame.