Page 7 - Free Trade Agreement

Looking forward to advancing EU-India FTA talks: Spanish President Snchez

Spanish President Pedro Snchez on Tuesday said he looks forward to advancing EU-India FTA negotiations, highlighting the "enormous" potential for a stronger relationship between India and the 27-nation European Union bloc, including Spain. The European Union (EU)-India proposed a free trade agreement (FTA) aimed at further boosting bilateral trade and investments between the two regions. The two sides are negotiating FTA, investment protection treaty and agreement on geographical indications (GIs). "The potential for a stronger relationship between India and the European Union (including Spain) is enormous. Spain is one of the largest economies in the world and has invested USD 4.2 billion in India... We look forward to advancing negotiations on a European Union-India free trade agreement. This will help our markets grow in size and diversity," Snchez observed while addressing the CII Spain India Business Summit in Mumbai, a statement issued by the industry body said. This is Spanis

No FTA if EU insists on opening up of India's dairy business: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday emphasised on understanding and respecting mutual sensitivities to fast-track India-EU free trade agreement talks, and said there would be no pact if the European Union insists on opening the dairy sector. Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business, the minister also said that "extraneous" issues like labour and climate change should be discussed at international forums. He added that the two sides have to understand, listen and appreciate the sensitivities of each other. "You (EU) are 27 countries, who have different priorities; India has 27 states. I may be growing apples in one state which does not permit me to open apples," he said, adding that the per capita income of EU member countries is much higher than that of the Indian states. He also said that there is a need to focus the energies on trade and on promoting investments and deeper strategic partnerships to push the talks. It will have to be a politica

India-UK negotiations on free trade deal likely to restart in November

India expects the UK to come forward for the next round of negotiations, after the Budget presentation later this month

India aiming to close FTA negotiations with Australia in 2 months: Report

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-Asean FTA talks: Goyal calls for addressing local industry's concerns

India on Friday called for addressing the concerns of its domestic industries affected by the existing free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation bloc ASEAN as the two regions negotiate a review of the pact. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has also emphasized the need to rectify the inequitable tariff liberalization under the agreement. Goyal said this during the stock-taking exercise of the progress of review talks for the India-ASEAN free trade agreement in goods (AITIGA) in Laos. All the ministers took note of the progress in negotiations for the review of the agreement. "Minister Goyal in his intervention stressed the need for addressing injury to industries from the existing FTA and the inequitable tariff liberalisation during the review. He also cited India's ongoing efforts of integrating with other economies through FTAs and highlighted the urgency in upgrading AITIGA which otherwise may lead to diversion of bilateral trade to other regions, the commerce ...

Piyush Goyal to review India-ASEAN trade pact talks' progress in Laos

The progress of talks for the review of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in goods will figure during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Laos, an official statement said on Friday. The two-day visit of Goyal to Vientiane, Laos, started from Friday. He is there to participate in the 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers (AEM-India) meeting and the 12th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM). These annual meetings of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) with their dialogue partners are being hosted by Laos, the ASEAN Chair for this year. "In the AEM-India meeting, the ministers will review the progress in negotiations for review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), the ministry said. The review is high on India's priority to make it more user-friendly, simple and trade facilitative for businesses, it said. It added that Goyal will have a number of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from participating countries o

India, S Korea share bill of lading electronically to promote trade: DGFT

India and South Korea have started sharing the bill of lading in an electronic transfer mode between the customs of both sides, a move that will help promote ease of doing business, a senior official said on Thursday. A bill of lading is a legal document that serves as a receipt, contract, and proof of ownership for shipped goods. Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said as and when the system becomes a norm for all the countries, there will be no requirement for physical submission of records. "India in collaboration with South Korea has now started this concept of sharing the bill of lading in an electronic transfer mode between the customs of both sides," he said while addressing a session in the 'Deloitte Government Summit' here. South Korea is a key trading partner of India and both countries have implemented a comprehensive free trade agreement in 2010. India's exports to the country stood at USD 6.41 billion in 2023-23, while imports aggregated at

India, UK may hold next round of talks on proposed trade agreement in Oct

India and the UK are expected to hold the next round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement in October to resolve the pending issues and close the negotiations, a senior official said on Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the officials of the UK are briefing their new ministers about the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). The two sides have already taken stock of the progress of talks at secretary and minister levels. "The briefings are going on in the UK...they are briefing their new ministers and based on that, the negotiations will start. We are hoping that in October, the negotiations should resume," Barthwal told reporters here. He also said India is progressing on all FTAs, but there are certain things which are not in control of anyone. The India-UK 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. Due to the elections in India and Britain, both the countries

India fine tuning FTAs with countries to suit domestic industry: Prasada

India is revising FTAs with South Korea, Malaysia and various other ASEAN countries to benefit the domestic industries, Union Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said on Monday. At the 64th annual session of ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association) here, he noted that the free trade agreements (FTAs) with the UK and the European Union are being spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It will play a great role for the auto components industry," the minister said. He further said: "We are also revising and reworking our FTAs with Korea, with Malaysia, with ASEAN countries, which will be fine-tuned to the demands of our industry." Prasada also urged the auto components industry to increase investment in R&D activities. "We are not investing enough in R&D, I believe this is 1 per cent of the revenue that is being invested so this is very crucial," he noted. He also emphasised the importance of boosting exports, reducing import ..

World Bank urges India to reconsider RCEP stance for $1 trn export goal

On the issue of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), World Bank economist Nora Dihel said that it was a big export potential for India

India-Oman free trade pact talks at advanced stage, says Ambassador Narang

Discussions for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman are at an advanced stage and both sides hope to conclude the pact early, Indian Ambassador to Oman Amit Narang said on Tuesday. The pact will give a significant push to bilateral trade and investment ties between the two countries, he said. The pact, officially known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), is expected to boost Indian exports to the west Asian country by eliminating duties, especially on petroleum products, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and iron and steel. "Discussions for a bilateral CEPA with Oman are at an advanced stage. We hope to conclude these discussions early and once this is done, this will be a significant push to bilateral, not just trade, but also bilateral investment ties," Narang said. Addressing an event organised by Ficci here, the Indian Ambassador to Oman also highlighted the significant potential for enhancing direct shipping li

GTRI suggests duty cuts withdrawal on gold jewellery under India-UAE FTA

With the government seeking a review of certain provisions of a free trade agreement with UAE, think tank GTRI on Friday asked for the withdrawal of duty cut concessions on platinum, silver, diamonds, gold jewellery, and tweak the rules of origin norms in the pact. India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), officially dubbed as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on February 18, 2022, and implemented on May 1, 2022. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has earlier stated that the pact contains provisions for unlimited imports of duty-free gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds into India over the next few years and it would hurt domestic industry. It has also alleged that there is a potential misuse of the rules of origin in the agreement and due to that India should review the CEPA. Meeting these rules are must to get duty concessions under the agreement. In the review, it said India should focus on issues such as "withdraw

India needs capacity to deal with non-trade issues in FTA talks: Barthwal

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

Mid-tech FDI for job creation need of the hour: Business Standard panel

Panel stresses the need to keep import tariffs low and stable; says private sector required to create jobs as mentioned in Budget

FTA talks with Japan, Korea, Asean moving slow, India still pursuing: Goyal

The negotiations to review the free trade agreements (FTAs) implemented with Japan, Korea, and Asean are moving slow but India is pursuing those talks, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. He said these agreements were signed and implemented during the UPA regime. These pacts are hurting the domestic industry and almost all firms stated that they are "unfair" agreements, Goyal said. "I am helpless as those agreements (came into effect) before we came to power. I am helpless to change it until we close the negotiations. "We are under re-negotiations but obviously when they (Japan, Korea, Asean) realise that the Congress's agreement was better for them (Japan, Korea, Asean), they are happier to keep that rather than change the agreements... they are going very slow, (but) we are also pursuing," he said while speaking at a CII programme on Viksit Bharat. Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is one of the major trade partners of India, with a share of

Negotiating teams to restart FTA talks with India as soon as possible: UK

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

India-UK FTA: UKIBC chief Mccole hopeful of signing some deal quickly

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-UK unveil futuristic Technology Security Initiative; to seal FTA soon

India and the UK on Wednesday firmed up a landmark technology security initiative that sets out a bold new approach for collaboration in a range of "priority" sectors including telecom, critical minerals, semiconductors and artificial intelligence, with a broader aim to elevate their strategic partnership to the next level. The decision on the UK-India Technology Security Initiative was made public following wide-ranging talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his visiting British counterpart David Lammy. In the discussions, both sides appreciated the "substantial" progress made in the India-UK FTA negotiations and looked forward to its "early conclusion" to achieve a mutually beneficial deal, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. It is learnt that the Indian side, during the talks, flagged its concerns over activities of pro-Khalistan elements in the UK while the British side raised the issue of Christian Michel, the key accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP ..

India-UK FTA negotiations floor not ceiling of ambitions: David Lammy

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday began a two-day visit to India to galvanise negotiations for an ambitious Free Trade Agreement and reset the overall bilateral partnership in crucial areas such as clean energy, new technologies and security. As he embarked on the high-profile trip, Lammy described the negotiations for the trade deal as the floor and not the ceiling of the ambitions to unlock shared potential and deliver growth. The British foreign secretary's visit to New Delhi is the first high-level engagement between India and the UK after Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government came to power on July 5. "India is the emerging superpower of the 21st century, the largest country in the world with 1.4 billion people and one of the fastest growing economies in the world," Lammy said. "Our Free Trade Agreement negotiations is the floor not the ceiling of our ambitions to unlock our shared potential and deliver growth, from Bengaluru to Birmingham," he said.

Higher exports and migration marked post-Covid UK ties with India

India is among the largest sources of investments into UK