Overview

• Goyal’s virtual meeting with Malaysian Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz set the stage for the tenth AITIGA review in New Delhi next month, with India threatening to trigger a 12-month exit clause if core issues remain unaddressed.
• The Commerce Department has rolled out a 20-question survey for exporters to diagnose rules-of-origin loopholes, compliance burdens and procedural barriers that curb pact utilization.
• India’s utilization of AITIGA benefits remains at just 30–40% compared with 65–70% by some ASEAN exporters, with flagged instances of under-invoicing and origin violations.
• Since 2010–11, India’s trade deficit with the ASEAN bloc has ballooned to over $44 billion in 2024–25, driven in part by indirect inflows of Chinese goods.
• Recent US proposals to impose tariffs up to 40% on goods from Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos and Myanmar intensify pressure for tighter rules-of-origin across the region.