

The FTA cautionary tale: What India-Korea trade warns us about new global deals
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Earlier this week, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said that India and South Korea were working towards doubling bilateral trade while reviewing a 16-year-old trade agreement between them.Signed in 2010, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has seen bilateral trade more than double, but with a greater share of gains accruing to South Korea. Speaking to the media at an India-Korea business forum, Goyal said this agreement “has not worked for India” and that a review was being undertaken to bring about “more balanced trade between the two countries”.
That is also a larger question for India as it enters into more free trade agreements (FTAs), the latest being with the European Union this January.Total trade between India and South Korea increased from $12 billion in 2009 to $27.4 billion in 2024. South Korea has mainly reaped these gains.
What India buys from South Korea (imports) has increased at an average of 5.8%, while the sale of Indian goods to South Korea (exports) has grown at a compounded annual rate of 2.6%. As a result, India’s trade deficit with South Korea—exports minus imports—has more than tripled.Between 2010 and 2020, India’s annual exports to South Korea remained rangebound between $4 billion and $5 billion.
Meanwhile, imports from South Korea saw two surges, one immediately after the signing of the CEPA and the other in 2017. Post-2020, as world economies reopened after the covid pandemic lockdowns, both countries saw an increase in bilateral trade, before Indian exports tapered again.
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