FTA Talks

The EU seeks lower tariffs as India's biggest FTA nears finalisation after nine rounds of talks, with the next set for March 10-14, boosting access for textiles, leather, and marine exports

India and the UK on Monday discussed to advance the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations while ensuring that the pact is balanced, ambitious and mutually beneficial. In a post on X, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said both countries reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening trade and investment ties. He held a meeting with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds here. "During the meeting, our discussions focused on advancing the India-UK Free Trade Agreement negotiations and ensuring that the agreement is balanced, ambitious and mutually beneficial," Goyal said. The India-UK FTA negotiations were launched on January 13, 2022. The agreement is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments. In such pacts, two countries either eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties on maximum goods traded between them. They also ease norms for promoting trade in services and bilateral investments. The bilateral trade between India and

India and the UK are expected to resume the talks for the proposed free trade agreement from February 24, an official said. The UK trade minister is likely to visit the national capital soon, the official said. The talks for the proposed FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles. The agreement is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments. In such pacts, two countries either eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties of maximum goods traded between them. They also ease norms for promoting trade in services and bilateral investments. The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty. On the other hand, the UK is seeking a significant cut in import duties on goods such as scotch whiskey, electric vehicles, lamb meat, chocolates and certain confectionar

Britain's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, on Monday revealed plans to visit India next month with a focus on finalising the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations as part of the UK government's ambition to elevate the bilateral partnership across all sectors. Addressing India Global Forum's (IGF) annual UK-India Parliamentary Lunch at the House of Lords complex in London, Reynolds highlighted the strength of the bilateral trading relationship which stood at GBP 41 billion in the year until September 2024. However, the Cabinet minister went on to reaffirm the British government's commitment to improve trade between India as the fifth and the UK as the sixth largest economies of the world. I want to reaffirm the UK's commitment to deliver growth for both countries through the trade deal that we're talking about, through the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the Technology Security Initiative; and I can let you know exclusively, I hear what you say

Trade ministers of India and Oman on Monday reviewed progress of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries and focused on advancing the negotiations for the pact. The agreement was discussed between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Oman's Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef in Muscat. "Our talks focused on advancing negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), strengthening trade and investment ties, and exploring avenues to further deepen our bilateral partnership," Goyal said on X. Goyal is in Muscat for the Joint Commission Meeting, which will be held on January 28. On January 14, India and Oman held the fifth round of talks for the agreement, aiming to boost bilateral economic ties. The negotiations for the agreement, officially dubbed CEPA, formally began in November 2023. In such agreements, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs

There is a significant progress in the negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and European Union (EU), an official said on Thursday. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was in Brussels last week to meet European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic to take stock of the progress of the negotiations. "Good progress is there on India-EU FTA. There is a significant progress in talks," the official said, without divulging more details. During the meeting between Goyal and Sefcovic, the two sides agreed to build a commercially meaningful trade agenda and work towards a mutually beneficial trade pact. The two leaders have also outlined political directions for both the teams to develop a mutually beneficial agenda for trade and investment and a robust FTA in an expedited manner to meet global challenges. The meeting came ahead of the 10th round of talks between India and the EU, which is scheduled from March 10-14 in Brussels. In the ninth round,

Goyal is on a visit to Brussels for a High-Level Dialogue with Maros Sefcovic from January 18-20

Meeting to give 'political direction' to expedite India-EU FTA negotiations

The two countries entered into FTA negotiations 14 years ago, but talks stalled after 10 rounds of discussions, and no formal round of negotiations has been held since February 2015

India and the UK are expected to hold the next round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) in January to resolve the pending issues and close the negotiations, a senior official said on Thursday. The talks for the proposed FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles. In November, an official statement said that the dates for the FTA talks in early 2025 would be finalised through diplomatic channels. The negotiations would resume the discussions from the progress achieved previously and seek to bridge the gaps for expeditiously closing the trade deal. The next round of talks is likely to start at January-end, the official said. The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty. On the other hand, the UK is seeking a significant cut in import duties on g

Following a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Brazil, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the relaunch of FTA talks in 2025

Government officials said that the negotiations were completed earlier in March and revising India's offer would mean restarting inter-ministerial consultations to firm up India's revised stance

India is looking at expediting the free trade agreement talks with Australia in the next two months to bridge differences on the sensitive issues and close the negotiations, a senior government official said on Wednesday. "Otherwise Australia goes for election next year, maybe the (talks for the) agreement will go beyond that depending on the work, we are able to do in these two months," Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal told reporters here. The eleventh round of negotiations are expected to be held next month. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) came into effect from December 2022. Now both the sides are negotiating to widen the scope of ECTA through a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA). The utilisation of the trade agreement so far is more than 80 per cent, which means that businesses of both the countries are benefitting out of this, he said. "They have guided the officials to see in case the CE

India needs to develop capacity to deal with non-trade issues during free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said. He said that non-trade issues have increasingly been emerging in trade negotiations. Barthawal was speaking at a function of the Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) last week. "The secretary observed that non-trade issues have increasingly been emerging in trade negotiations, raising the need for cross-disciplinary capacity building in FTA negotiations for India and other developing countries," the commerce ministry said. It added that the Centre is aiming to create a dedicated pool of legal experts who could provide technical inputs for enhancing India's participation in international trade and investment negotiations and dispute settlement. It is also aiming to become a thought leader in the various domains of international economic law such as WTO (World Trade Organisation) law, international investment law and legal is

The process of getting negotiating teams back in the room will kick-start soon to deliver a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, the UK's newly elected Labour government announced on Monday as it set out its trading priorities. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds spelt out his department's approach to international trade deals, which he said will put economic growth at the heart of the negotiations to achieve high-quality pacts that give British businesses access to international markets and boost jobs. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said it also plans to publish a trade strategy which aligns with the government's industrial strategy, enhances economic security and supports net zero ambitions. Boosting trade abroad is essential to deliver a strong economy at home. That's why I've wasted no time taking stock of progress and getting ready to press on with trade talks with our international partners, said Reynolds. From the Gulf to India, our trade programme

Reiterating the UK Foreign Secretary's statement, he noted that David Lammy sees FTA as a "floor" for both countries' trade and investment relationship

India remains committed to elevating its ties with the UK and welcomes the desire to conclude a mutually beneficial free trade pact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after British Foreign Secretary David Lammy met him on Wednesday. In a post on 'X', Modi also appreciated the priority accorded by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to broaden and deepen the India-UK comprehensive strategic partnership. Lammy is on a two-day visit to India to galvanise negotiations for the trade pact and reset the overall bilateral partnership in crucial areas such as clean energy, new technologies and security. The British foreign secretary's visit to New Delhi is the first high-level engagement between India and the UK after Prime Minister Starmer's Labour government came to power on July 5. "A pleasure to meet UK FS @DavidLammy. Appreciate the priority accorded by PM @Keir_Starmer to broaden and deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," Modi said. "Remain committed to elevating the ties.

Steps such as increasing exports, making local currency trading workable and a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union will help boost trade between India and Russia, think tank GTRI said on Thursday. India should not worry over the trade deficit, as it is getting crude petroleum oil at cheaper than market rates from Russia and it is also cutting India's overall oil import bill, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. Since the Ukraine war began in February 2022 and the US imposed sanctions on Russia, the trade relationship between India and Russia has shifted significantly. There has been a sharp increase in imports from Russia, resulting in a notable trade imbalance. Exports during the financial year 2020-21 and 2023-24 grew by 59 per cent, while imports surged by about 8,300 per cent, the report said, adding the trade deficit rose from USD 2.8 billion before the war in 2020-21 to USD 57.2 billion at present. It said that the import surge is solely due to

The commerce ministry is looking at setting up a centre for negotiations, as this is an important skill set required in areas like free trade agreements and other business deals, a top government official said on Tuesday. Addressing students and faculties of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) here, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the centre can also help in creating a skill set among students of the institute. "Negotiations are going to be a very very important skill these days. When we do FTAs, negotiation skills are a very important tool, so we have to create one centre for negotiations. But that centre is not just supposed to do FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations, we have to get into the broader framework of negotiations, which also involves mergers and acquisitions and other business deals," Barthwal said. This centre will not be only for the government, but it will also be able to create skill sets among IIFT students. "So, that is the initiative, we will

Senior officials of India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) are expected to hold the next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement, which aims at boosting commerce and investments, in September, an official said. Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Darpan Jain said that the eighth round of talks was concluded on June 28. He said that discussions were held on all 21 chapters in the meeting and progress was made in number of areas such as government procurement, digital trade, technical barriers to trade, goods, and market access. "We plan to hold more inter-sessional meetings in July and August and we intend to have another round (of talks) in the last week of September," Jain told reporters here. On June 17, 2022, India and the EU formally resumed negotiations on the proposed agreement, after a gap of over eight years. They are negotiating Trade and Investment Agreement, and a pact on Geographical Indications (GI). India had started negotiations for a tra