Page 9 - Free Trade Agreements

Trade winds

Tackling non-tariff barriers is crucial

Planning to establish centre for FTA negotiations, biz deals: Comm secy

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

India-EU next round of talks for trade, investment agreement likely in Sep

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

UK's Labour Party vows to eliminate anti-India sentiments within its ranks

The UK's Opposition Labour Party, hoping to win a mandate to form a government after the July 4 general election, has committed itself to stamping out anti-India sentiments within its ranks and building a strong strategic partnership with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led administration. The party's resolution during an annual conference under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in favour of international intervention in Kashmir was widely seen as having cost it British Indian votes in the 2019 general election. There have also been concerns over some Labour councillors espousing pro-Khalistan views. At a Political Hustings' event for Britain's South Asian community organised by Asian Voice' in partnership with City Sikhs and City Hindus Network in London on Friday evening, Labour Party chair and shadow secretary of state for women and equalities Anneliese Dodds claimed that the party led by Keir Starmer is confident of having cleansed its ranks of any members with such extremist

Good, services exports expected to surpass $800 bn in FY25, says Goyal

'Hope to make progress in India-UK FTA irrespective of elections'

EEPC India cautiously optimistic on engineering export growth in FY'25

EEPC India remains "cautiously optimistic" for the engineering exports growth in the current fiscal, even though the shipment registered a 7.3 per cent year-on-year increase in May, amounting to USD 9.98 billion, an official said on Friday. This uptick is part of a consistent growth pattern, with the April-May period of FY25 witnessing exports totalling USD 18.65 billion, a modest rise from USD 18.25 billion for the two months of FY'24, the Engineering Export Promotion Council said. "We remain cautiously optimistic with the upturn in shipments which reflects improvement in the demand scenario in key markets. The global economic outlook is expected to improve in the ongoing fiscal and exporting community remains optimistic," EEPC India chairman Arun Kr Garodia said. Softening price pressure and easing of interest rates in major advanced economies is set to spur demand, he said. Garodia also pointed out that several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are under negotiation and these could b

India may sign FTA with Oman in first 100 days of PM Modi's third term

This free trade agreement with Oman will mark the first significant bilateral deal of Modi's third term as Prime Minister of India

'No proposal made': MEA rejects Maldivian minister's claim on FTA

India on Thursday said it has not made any proposal to the Maldives for a bilateral free trade agreement (DTA) and that it was ready to consider if the island nation expresses interest for such a pact. "No specific proposal for a bilateral FTA with the Maldives has been made by the Government of India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "If the Government of Maldives expresses interest in having an FTA with India, we will give it due consideration," he said. Jaiswal's comments came in response to a question at his weekly media briefing. Last week, Maldivian Minister for Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed indicated that India has initiated efforts to have an FTA between the two countries. "They (India) want there to be a Free Trade Agreement with Maldives, in addition to SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement)," Saeed told a press conference in Male. The Maldives President has offered this opportunity to all countries, Saeed said, adding that

Govt plans to formulate SOPs for negotiating free trade agreements

India is considering formulating standard operating procedures (SOP) for negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) as the country is engaging with several trade partners for such pacts, an official said. To discuss the various aspects of these agreements, the commerce ministry is organising a two-day 'Chintan Shivir' on FTA strategy and SOPs for trade negotiations. Former commerce secretaries, industry experts and government officials would participate in the deliberations on May 16-17 at Neemrana, Rajasthan. Various issues that would come up for deliberations include India's trade strategy and vision 2047; economic assessment and modelling of FTAs; inclusion of new disciplines into FTAs such as labour, environment, gender, indigenous people; services and digital trade; SOPs for FTA negotiations; and industry experience on utilisation of the FTAs. A separate session is being organised on leveraging India's FTAs to address new forms/kind of measures such as CBAM (carbon border ...

India seeking fair market access ahead of the India-Asean FTA review

India aims to modernise and update the deal to align with current times, considering that the trade agreement was signed over a decade ago

India's imports from FTA partners in FY24 grew 38% over FY19

"This growth highlights the significant and varied impact of free trade agreements on India's global trade dynamics," GTRI said in a report

Sri Lanka & Bangladesh look east

The shifting sands of the South Asian trade landscape may be worthy of some serious reflection for India's regional trade strategy

In the economic transformation of Southeast Asia, a tale of two FTAs

Advantages of India's FTA with ASEAN appear unclear and appear to make the country dependent on Chinese imports

Next round of talks on proposed India-Peru trade agreement likely in Jun

The chief negotiators of India and South American nation Peru are likely to hold the next rounds of talks for a proposed free trade agreement in June, an official statement said on Thursday. So far, seven rounds of talks have been completed. "The next round, expected in June 2024, will be preceded by intersessional negotiations over VC (video conference) to ensure that outstanding issues are resolved before the two parties meet again," the commerce ministry said. The seventh round of talks involved understanding priorities and mutual concerns and ensuring that the negotiations are rooted in mutual respect and benefit, it added. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the basic principle of negotiations should be understanding strengths and respecting sensitivities of each other. The modalities of negotiation may emerge from appropriate stakeholder consultations, and feedback from the industry and the negotiating teams should engage in a gainful and explorative approach, he said. R

India will not rush into signing free trade deals, says Piyush Goyal

The minister was responding to a question on India's trade negotiations with the UK and the European Union (EU) becoming more complicated

India-EU FTA must be fair, equitable and balanced: Goyal at CII event

The minister further elaborated on the plethora of opportunities in the various sectors across India

Govt should talk more on its steps to protect farmer interests

The WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) was one of the many agreements that were negotiated during the Uruguay Round and the option available was to accept all the agreements or none

Next round of talks on India-Peru free trade agreement pact likely in April

The next round of negotiations between India and South American nation Peru for a free trade agreement is expected to start in April, an official statement said on Thursday. The officials of the two countries concluded the sixth round of talks in Lima on February 14. The proposed agreement is aimed at promoting bilateral trade and investments between the two countries. In such pacts, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides easing norms to promote trade in services. "The 6th round of India-Peru negotiations for a trade agreement was held from February 12 to 14, 2024, in Lima, Peru, to continue the work that started in 2017 when the negotiation process was formally announced," the commerce ministry said. In this round, nine working groups held in-person meetings on trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, movement of natural persons, customs procedures and trade facilitation,

Duty concession on gold will be concern for India in FTA with Peru: GTRI

Duty concessions on gold, which accounts for 80 per cent of India's imports from Peru, is the most challenging issue for New Delhi under the proposed free trade agreement with the South American nation, a report said on Sunday. Economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that gold, a high-value product with low volume, attracts a 10 per cent basic customs duty in India, and even minor tariff concessions could lead to a significant increase in imports. India and the South American nation Peru are negotiating a free trade agreement to promote bilateral trade and investments between the two countries. In such pacts, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides easing norms to promote trade in services. The next round of talks is expected to start this week in Lima, Peru. "Tariff concessions on gold, accounting for USD 1.8 billion or 80 per cent of India's imports from Peru

Govt seeks investment commitment from Switzerland under EFTA pact: Report

India has sought investment commitments from Switzerland under the proposed free trade agreement with the four-nation EFTA bloc, a top government official said on Tuesday. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The official also said negotiations for the pact are at an advanced stage and both sides are trying to conclude it fast. The investment commitment would help India balance Switzerland's decision to remove customs duties on most of its goods. When asked if this move would have an implication on the agreement, the official said that it can be bargained against many other things. "We have told them that we will be requiring commitments on investments so that this zero duty on goods can balance more investments and more manufacturing in the country," the official told PTI. The Indian negotiators are also trying to see how the Swiss companies can come and manufacture in India so that it gives a boost to Make in In