Page 2 - Fta In India

Duty concessions on petrochemical products key in India-Oman FTA talks

Customs duty concession demand on petrochemical products such as polypropylene and polyethylene, used primarily in the plastics industry, may act as a sticking point in the early conclusion of talks for the proposed free-trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman, according to an official. Negotiations for the pact, officially dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), are in the last phase. Certain domestic players from both public and private sectors are opposing duty concessions on these products under the agreement. They are claiming that Oman provides huge subsidies to its industry on raw materials for the production of these petrochemical products. According to them, if India would give duty concessions on these already subsidised products, it would be a double advantage for Omani firms. The government official said that they are holding talks with domestic players on the issue. Officials of the two countries concluded the second round of talks for th

EAM Jaishankar rejects criticism over delays in firming up India-UK FTA

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday took strong objection to those criticising New Delhi for delays in firming up the proposed free trade agreement with the UK and said careful scrutiny is required as such pacts could impact livelihoods of people. "I hear this naysayers' narrative coming back -- why isn't India quickly signing up (the FTA) with the UK? Nobody says why isn't the UK quickly signing up with India? So somewhere, it is like we have to make that accommodation," he said. The external affairs minister was speaking at a book release ceremony. India and the UK have been holding negotiations to firm up an ambitious FTA. The two sides are learnt to have finalised over 20 out of 26 chapters in the FTA and are now looking at sealing it by bridging differences on certain contentious issues including mobility of people and import duty concessions on certain items. In April last year, the two sides had set a Diwali deadline for concluding the free trade agreement but

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

Piyush Goyal discusses progress of FTA deal during EFTA delegation meet

The primary objective of these negotiations is to establish a "fair, mutually beneficial, and comprehensive" trade deal between India and EFTA

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

Eye on free-trade agreement, India seeks Eurasian bloc trade data

The pact, if materialised, will strengthen the bilateral commercial relationship between India and Russia

UK PM Sunak reiterates commitment to get free trade deal with India done

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reiterated his commitment to closer India-UK ties across different sectors, including a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries. Addressing a reception by the diaspora group Conservative Friends of India (CFIN) on the sidelines of the ongoing Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Monday evening, the British Indian leader began by reflecting upon his successful first visit to India as Prime Minister for the India-led G20 Summit last month. I've just come back from my first trip to India as Prime Minister and that was very successful, said Sunak. Everybody here already knows just how strong the relationship between our two countries is. At the G20, we really saw a glimpse of what the future of that relationship can be, with closer cooperation on absolutely everything from trade to defence, innovation, security, research, and I hope a free trade deal, and we can get it done, he said. The 43-year-old politician, who is leadin

Piyush Goyal to visit UK for FTA negotiations, review progress of TEPA

India and the UK began negotiations on the FTA in January 2022, and set a Diwali deadline last year for the trade pact

Women-led SMEs to benefit from proposed FTA with India: UK minister

Women-owned and women-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are set to benefit from a proposed India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) as part of a "Trade and Gender Equality" chapter which has been provisionally closed at the end of 10 rounds of negotiations, UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has said. In response to the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, which scrutinises her department's work, the cabinet minister also revealed last week that short-term ease of business mobility and mutual recognition of professional qualifications were among the topics in discussion as part of the FTA. India and the UK have been negotiating an FTA since January last year to significantly enhance the bilateral trading relationship, worth an estimated GBP 36 billion in 2022, with an 11th round of negotiations scheduled for this month. We have also provisionally closed a Trade and Gender Equality chapter in which we have agreed to undertake cooperation activity, said Badenoch,

FTA between Israel, India to be discussed today, informs Israeli Minister

Talking about the sectors that will figure in their discussions, the minister said the talks will be on wide-ranging sectors to enable more and more trade and "free trade brings people together"

India's ongoing FTA negotiations with EU, UK are on track: Govt official

All these issues require a lot of unanimity among the negotiating countries and these talks are complex exercises

India looking at bigger ambitions in trade with US, says Piyush Goyal

Two specific targets for this elevated engagement were semiconductors and defence production

GTRI suggests 7 steps for Indian traders to make full use of FTA with Aus

Indian traders should follow seven steps, including knowing trade policy and rules of origin of respective products in Australia in order to take full advantage of the recently implemented free trade agreement, according to a study by GTRI. The India-Australia free trade agreement came into effect on December 29, 2022. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) offers many concessions to exporters and importers of both countries, but the concessions are product-specific, and firms must check if their products benefit from the pact. We have suggested a seven-step process to ensure that the firms do not miss critical details while exporting or importing under ECTA, it said. Utilisation rate of India's free trade agreements (FTAs) is low and one of the factors is low awareness about the process and its benefits, it said adding these steps can help Indian companies make full use of the trade agreement. The steps inc

India's push for free trade negotiations: A status check of ongoing deals

Take a look at the status of the ongoing FTA negotiations by India

India will aim to achieve $100 bn export target for textiles by 2030: Goyal

Citing the case of the FTA negotiations with the United Kingdom, Goyal said the country had a 9 per cent duty on different items and if that goes away, it will benefit the sector, he said

FTAs and their discontents: Do free trade agreements benefit India?

India's balance of trade has worsened with countries with which it has signed free trade agreements

India won't yield on national interest to meet FTA deadlines: Piyush Goyal

Comments come a day after UK home secretary cast doubts over the proposed FTA with India over the issue of migration, and branded Indians as the largest group who overstay their visas

Goyal reviews ongoing FTAs; deliberates ways to fast track negotiations

India is currently negotiating trade deals with developed nations such as the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and the European Union (EU).

Eye on FTAs, Centre turns to GSTN for services trade data mining

Currently, the value of exports and imports of services is released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and it comes with a lag of over two months

UK Parliament panel warns against rushing India FTA to meet Diwali deadline

A UK parliamentary panel warned the government against accepting a poor deal to rush things through simply to meet a deadline set for the completion of a free trade agreement (FTA) with India.