Trade Agreements

Canada says Pacific trade pact open to new nations after Taiwan's complaint

Taiwan has few international trade agreements due to its diplomatic isolation because of pressure from China, which views the democratically governed island as its own territory

Commerce secy visits Norway to discuss trade pact implementation with EFTA

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has visited Norway to discuss the possibility of an early implementation of a free trade agreement between India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA, an official statement said on Saturday. The agreement, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), was inked in March. The implementation date has not yet been finalised. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. "The visit was aimed at furthering the objectives of and unlocking the large market in EFTA countries for Indian exports of goods and services and push for early implementation of USD 100 billion investment," the commerce ministry said Barthwal met Tomas Norvoll, State Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries of Norway for discussions on promoting trade and investments, mobility for Indian professionals, re-energising existing institutional mechanisms and the next steps for the TEPA ..

Govt keen to strengthen CECA services pact with Australia to boost exports

India is looking at further strengthening the pact on services with Australia in the proposed compressive economic cooperation trade agreement (CECA) to boost the sector's exports, an official said on Thursday. The two countries have already implemented an interim trade agreement in goods and services in December 2022 and are now under negotiations to expand its scope through CECA. The next round of talks is expected in December here. "One of the areas of interest for India is to strengthen our agreement on the services side because our services exports are doing good. So whatever we feel can be done more where India can actually improve our exports, we are looking at those areas and trying to see what else can be done," the official said. The estimated value of service exports during April-September 2024 is USD 180 billion as compared to USD 163.92 billion in April-September 2023. In 2023-24, it was over USD 340 billion. India is also interested in government procurement, but the

Febi expects to become the go-to agency for EU companies in India

A 2024 survey of German companies in India flagged bureaucratic hurdles, high corruption, and the tax system as the three biggest obstacles to doing business in India

Next round of India-Asean trade agreement review talks in November

The next round of talks for the ongoing review meeting of the India-Asean free trade agreement in goods will be held in November, an official statement said on Saturday. The third round of the negotiations was concluded on August 1 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Eight sub-committees have been constituted under the India-Asean Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee for undertaking negotiations on different areas related to the review of the pact. "The next meeting of the AITIGA (Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement) Joint Committee will be held in India from 19-22 November 2024," the Commerce Ministry said. The AITIGA was signed in 2009. In September 2022, both sides tasked the AITIGA Joint Committee to undertake the review to make the agreement more trade-facilitative and mutually beneficial. During the third round of negotiations in Jakarta, Indonesia, all eight Sub- Sub-Committees dealing with national treatment and market access, rules of origin, standards, technical regulations, custom

Prioritise deep trade agreements

India's global competitiveness and investment appeal hinge on these agreements

Hungary, China sign strategic cooperation agreement during Xi's visit

Hungary and China signed a number of new agreements on Thursday to deepen their economic and cultural cooperation during a visit to the Central European country by Chinese President Xi Jinping, a trip meant to solidify China's economic footprint in the region. Xi and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn held talks in the capital Budapest as part of the Chinese leader's final stop on a five-day European tour that also took in Serbia and France. During a press briefing following the talks, Orbn praised the continuous, uninterrupted friendship between the two countries since his tenure began in 2010, and promised that Hungary would continue to host further Chinese investments. I would like to assure the president that Hungary will continue to provide fair conditions for Chinese companies investing in our country, and that we will create the opportunity for the most modern Western and the most modern Eastern technologies to meet and build cooperation in Hungary, Orbn said. Beijing has .

Good market access offered on both sides, says UK on India FTA talks

There has been good market access offered on both sides but not enough to secure a free trade agreement (FTA), the UK government has said as Indian negotiators are in London this week to continue discussions with their British counterparts. During a debate in the House of Lords this week, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron was addressing questions from British peers on the current state of freedom of religion or belief in India. The recent restructuring of the BBC to create a new Indian-owned entity in order to comply with the country's foreign direct investment (FDI) rules was flagged by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Jeremy Purvis, who questioned the level of market access being offered to India in the field of media, data and telecoms as part of the FTA negotiations. My understanding of where we are with the trade deal is that good market access has been offered on both sides, but not quite enough yet to secure a deal. It is important with such trade deals, as you only really get one

Trade policy calibrated with growth but open for expansion: Piyush Goyal

At Business Standard Manthan, Piyush Goyal added that in America and Europe, there are still high duties for several products

8 sub-committees reviewing free trade agreement between India, Asean

Eight sub-committees have been constituted under the India-Asean free trade agreement joint committee for undertaking negotiations on different areas related to the review of the pact, an official statement said on Monday. India hosted the third meeting of the committee for undertaking the review here from February 16-19. The AITIGA (Asean-India trade in goods agreement) was signed in 2009. In September 2022, both sides tasked the AITIGA Joint Committee to undertake the review to make the agreement more trade facilitative and mutually beneficial. "A total of eight sub-committees have been constituted under the AITIGA Joint Committee for undertaking negotiations on different policy areas related to the agreement," the commerce ministry said. The first two meetings of the joint committee were held in May and August last year. In the meeting, the ministry said, the sub-committees reported the progress and outcome of their discussions related to market access, rules of origin and ...

India, UK trade pact talks at advance stage; we want a fair deal: Govt

The negotiations for the proposed India-UK free trade agreement are at an advanced stage, and both sides are working to iron out differences on the remaining issues, a top government official said on Thursday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the negotiations are taking time because "we want" to safeguard India's interest. "India should commercially gain out of it and we should also be able to safeguard the interest of our farmers, PLI (production linked incentive) scheme goods. So, we are there to see that the deal is a fair deal," he told reporters here. Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry L Satya Srinivas said the talks are at an advanced stage and going on at a "very" high level to iron out differences. The 14th round of talks started on January 10. The investment treaty is being negotiated as a separate agreement between India and the UK. The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to USD 20.36 billion in 2022-23 from USD 17.5 billion in 2021-22.

China threat an opportunity for India-US ties, strong FTA: Congressman Issa

The "threat" posed by China offers an opportunity for the US and India to make strong agreements, including a genuine Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to ensure that the two countries will look at each other as first partners, according to Darrell Issa, an influential American lawmaker. Issa, a Republican Congressman from California, said this during a conversation with Aparna Pande, Research Fellow, India, and South Asia with the think tank Hudson Institute here on Monday. Agreeing that the India-US relationship today does seem to be based in no small part on the China threat, he said, Having said that, I view this China threat as an opportunity to do with that we did not do. The items produced in China could be produced in India, at substantially similar costs (and) would more than allow for India to substantially replace its dirty fuel with clean fuel, Issa said. But that requires that the two countries really make strong agreements, including a genuine Free Trade Agreement (FTA), one

Import concessions

Trade agreements should focus on overall gains

Everyone wants to do an FTA with India due to rapidly growing market: GTRI

Countries ranging from large economies like Europe, and the UK to smaller ones, including Oman and Peru, want to have a free trade agreement with India due to the country's large and rapidly growing market, a report by economic think tank GTRI said. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that by implementing a trade deal (FTA) with India, countries can access the Indian market with less or no import duties on substantial trade. This gives their companies an advantage over others in selling to the Indian market. Additionally, since India currently does most of its importing (over 75 per cent) from countries it does not have FTAs with, these agreements are particularly appealing as they offer a significant new market opportunity in India. "Everyone wants to do an FTA with India. Countries ranging from large economies like the US, Europe, Japan, and the UK to smaller ones like Oman, Peru, and Mauritius either already have or actively seeking an FTA with India. The main reaso

India on lookout for major global labour arrangements for skilled workers

Govt in discussion with several countries to send skilled workers

Never been closer to reaching pact on free trade with India: EFTA

The European Free Trade Association is a trade organisation and free trade area consisting of four European states- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

No deadline for UK FTA but working on a timeline: Commerce Secretary

Out of four pillars, India has joined three pillars - supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption) and is an observer under the trade pillar

India-Peru to recommence free trade agreement negotiation on Tuesday

There will also be discussions on services, the movement of people, and the investment chapter later in the month based on the mutual convenience of the negotiators

At WTO, growing disregard for trade rules shows world is fragmenting

Those depositing cases include China, Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, South Korea and the United States

Canada pauses negotiations on trade agreement with India: Official

Canada has paused negotiations for a free trade agreement with India and now both the countries will mutually decide about resuming the talks in the future, an official said. "The Canadian side conveyed that they were taking a pause in India-Canada negotiations on the Early Progress Trade Agreement. This will enable us both to take stock of progress and next steps. We will decide by mutual agreement when negotiations will resume," the official told PTI. Over half a dozen rounds of talks have been held between the countries on the trade pact so far. In March last year, the two countries re-launched negotiations for an interim agreement, officially dubbed as Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA). In such agreements, two countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also liberalise norms for promoting trade in services and attract investments. Indian industry was looking at duty-free access for products like textil