Page 3 - Free Trade Pact

India, South Africa discuss preferential trade pact through SACU bloc

SACU nations include South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini and is the world's oldest customs union, over a century old

India should reconsider negotiating a comprehensive FTA with the US: GTRI

India should reconsider negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) with the US as it could pose challenges to domestic sectors like agriculture, automobiles and pharmaceuticals, think tank GTRI said on Thursday. It cautioned that under trade pact with the US, many of Washington's demands such as weakening India's minimum price support system for farmers, allowing genetically modified food imports, lowering agricultural tariffs, changing patent laws to extend drug monopolies, and letting American e-commerce giants sell directly to consumers pose major risks. The risks include harm to farmer incomes, food security, biodiversity, public health, and the survival of small retailers, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. "Reducing tariffs on farm goods could affect the livelihoods of hundreds of millions, while slashing duties on cars could undercut a sector that accounts for nearly a third of India's manufacturing output. The collapse of Australia's car industry .

India's best interests will be kept in mind while inking trade pacts: Goyal

India's best interests will be kept in mind while inking trade pacts, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal assured businesses on Tuesday. "India First is our mantra, is our guiding principle," Goyal told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. Declining to divulge the exact contours of the ongoing trade talks with the US, Goyal said India is in talks with many countries. "They continue to go on very smoothly in a positive direction and all is well," he added. "We are covering a very wide array of subjects, a very wide array of products and I can assure business persons across the country that we are keeping the best interests of India at the forefront of our discussions," Goyal said. The bilateral trade agreement with the US will power the economy towards becoming a developed nation by 2047 when the country celebrates 100 years of independence, he said. Speaking at the Dubai India business forum here, Goyal said India is mulling to start an Indian Institute of Management and

Free trade deal may get delayed as Australia approaches 2025 elections

Both nations had signed the interim trade deal, also known as India-Australia ECTA that came into force on December 29, 2022

India, UK to relaunch FTA talks in 2025, 'address remaining issues'

Announcement follows first meeting between Prime Minister Modi and his British counterpart during G-20 summit in Brazil

India looks to establish standardised negotiation process for trade deals

The government is seeking to revive a decade-old proposal to streamline FTA negotiations, especially in the backdrop of imbalanced deals with a couple of trade partners

New trade strategy could help India shift from 'no' to 'yes' in deals

Indian officials still tend to think of trade as a zero-sum game, with tariffs as the only real levers

Piyush Goyal suggests Bimstec group members to relook proposed FTA

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday suggested the seven member countries of the BIMSTEC bloc to relook at the progress of Free Trade Agreement talks which are moving at a very slow pace. He said that the members can think of negotiating a preferential trade agreement instead of a full-fledged free trade pact. BIMSTEC stands for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Its seven members are five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka) and two Southeast Asian countries (Myanmar and Thailand). The bloc has been negotiating a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2004. So far over 20 rounds of talks have been held. The last one was held in 2018. "I would like to raise a few fundamental issues about where we stand and what are the possibilities of making this FTA a reality," Goyal said here at CIIs BIMSTEC Business Summit 2024. He said that so far 22 rounds of talks have been held for t

India, EFTA trade pact under ratification process: MoS Jitin Prasada

The government on Friday said the free trade agreement signed between India and the four European nation bloc EFTA in March is under the ratification process in those countries. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said that there is no fixed time frame for the ratification, as the process is different in each of the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries. In March, India and EFTA signed a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). Under the pact, India will receive the investment in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties. The EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. "The TEPA agreement is under the ratification process in the national parliament or legislature of each EFTA country," Prasada said. In India, such trade pacts are approved by the Union Cabinet. According to the

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

South Korea trade: India did better on manufactured goods, grew at 6.4%

Electronic goods was among the fastest growing segment among major manufactured goods imported from South Korea

India-EU FTA: Will the marriage reconcile?

While realpolitik is not expected to result in a favourable trade agreement between India and EU, the partners would do best in settling for a more realistic agenda with some compromise from both side

India-EFTA deal symbolises shared commitment to equitable trade: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the India-EFTA trade agreement symbolises our shared commitment to open, fair and equitable trade. He also said that the global leadership of EFTA countries in innovation and R&D across diverse spheres like digital trade, banking and financial services, and pharma will open up new doors of collaboration. "Heartiest Congratulations and best wishes to the negotiators and signatories involved in the signing of India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA)," Modi said in a written message. The Prime Minister's statement was read by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal here in the presence of ministers and officials of EFTA countries. "In the last 10 years, India's economy has taken a quantum leap, moving from being the world's eleventh largest economy to the fifth largest. Our next goal is to make India's economy in the world," the Prime Minister said. They are here for the signing of the FTA. The European Free Trade ...

India, EFTA ink free trade agreement; $100 bn investment target in 15 yrs

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland

India closes in on trade deal with Oman as Mideast ties strengthen

The two sides started talks on the trade pact just three months ago, and their haste in completing the deal shows Prime Minister Modi's determination in building stronger links with the Middle East

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

LIVE: PM Modi gives 'Wed in India' call to retain wealth within country

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India, UK to hold next round of talks for free trade agreement in Jan

India and the UK officials in January next year will hold the next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) to resolve remaining issues, the commerce ministry said on Monday. The 13th round of negotiations for the proposed pact was held between September 18 and December 15. "The UK and India will continue to negotiate towards a comprehensive and ambitious Free Trade Agreement. The fourteenth round of negotiations will take place in January 2024," the ministry said in a statement. These negotiations focussed on complex issues including goods, services, and investment. An Indian team was in London recently. Issues which need to be resolved include duty cuts on electric vehicles and whiskey and the movement of professionals. Talks are also progressing on the proposed bilateral investment treaty (BIT). India and the UK launched the talks for a free-trade agreement (FTA) in January 2022, to conclude talks by Diwali (October 24, 2022), but the deadline was missed due

Ahead of India-Asean FTA review: Industry flags spike in import of 38 items

Import of as many as 38 items from Asean members sees a sharp surge in H1FY24

PM Rishi Sunak's officials in Delhi to discuss India-UK FTA: Report

Senior officials from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's team are in New Delhi this week to add momentum behind the ongoing round of negotiations for an India-UK free trade agreement (FTA), according to a UK media report on Saturday. The Guardian' newspaper reports that while there is no official comment from either side on such a visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is keen to finalise the FTA by the end of February before Sunak sets off on an expected general election campaign trail. Both countries are heading into an election year in 2024 and signing off on a trade agreement with India will bolster Sunak's electoral pitch to voters showing signs of anti-incumbency towards his governing Conservatives. The deal is still very much on and we think it is possible before both countries have their elections. Both sides are keen to get this done, an official close to the talks told the newspaper. The India-UK FTA talks began in January last year with Diwali 2022 set as t