Page 8 - Fta

India may soon have social security agreement with UK under free trade pact

India may soon have a social security pact with the UK as an in-built component of the free trade agreement (FTA) which has been finalised between the two countries, a source said on Wednesday. The source said that from now onwards, the social security agreement (SSA) will be an in-built component of all free trade agreements to be negotiated in future. "UK is believed to have agreed on the social security component under the FTA negotiations, which would be ratified in the near future," the source said. The SSA, a reciprocal arrangement between two or more countries, ensures that an employee while on a foreign assignment does not have to contribute to the social security coverage fund in that country but get the full benefit of employment period for pension calculation, while the employers are saved from making double social security contributions on behalf of their workers. The Indian employees posted abroad or on foreign assignment are required to obtain a certificate of coverag

Best of BS Opinion: PLIs can't succeed without deeper structural reforms

Today's pieces span multiple issues, from overseas acquisitions by PSUs, PLI schemes' success, the proposed India-US BTA, and the debilitating effect of quality issues across sectors

Goyal discusses FTAs with industry, exporters ahead of key trade talks

Piyush Goyal meets export councils and industry groups to review trade pacts, gather views on new FTAs and SEZ reforms as India negotiates key global agreements

India, UK trade deal likely to be signed by July end, says official

The process of legal scrubbing of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) text is progressing at a faster pace, and the pact is expected to be signed by the end of July, an official said on Tuesday. To give an impetus to the process, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal is in London with his official team. Barthwal will meet UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds and other British senior officials during his two-day visit. The two countries announced the conclusion of the negotiations on May 6. It will remove taxes on the export of labour-intensive products such as leather, footwear and clothing, while making imports of whisky and cars from Britain cheaper, in a bid to double trade between the two economies to USD 120 billion by 2030. The world's fifth and sixth-largest economies concluded the deal after three years of on-off negotiations. Once the FTA is signed, it will require approval from the British Parliament and India's Cabinet before it can take effect

Asean stonewalling progress of FTA review talks with India: Official

Asean nations are stonewalling the progress of the ongoing negotiations on the review of the existing free trade agreement in goods signed in 2009, and the talks are moving "very" slowly, an official said on Monday. The review of the agreement is a long-standing demand of Indian industry and India is looking forward to an upgraded pact, which will address the current asymmetries in bilateral trade and will make trade more balanced and sustainable. "So far, nine rounds of talks have been completed. They are going very slow. Very less progress is there. Asean is stonewalling the talks," the official, who did not wish to be named, said. After the implementation of the agreement, India's exports stood at only about USD 38-39 billion annually, while imports from the 10-nation Asean bloc have jumped to USD 86 billion, the official added. Asean countries have opened less number of tariff lines or product categories for India. India has offered duty concessions on over 71 per cent of the .

India pursuing FTAs with mature, rule-bound markets: S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar says India's trade policy has shifted in the past 11 years to target transparent and stable economies over Southeast Asian competition

Piyush Goyal to visit UK to push India-UK FTA towards implementation

Commerce minister's UK visit will focus on reviewing FTA negotiations, establishing a roadmap for finalisation, and expanding trade, investment, and creative partnerships

Piyush Goyal in London to discuss FTA, ways to promote trade, investment

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in London on a two-day official visit to discuss issues related to the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and explore ways to boost trade and investment between the two countries, an official statement said on Wednesday. During the visit, Goyal will hold a bilateral meeting with the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds. "Both leaders will review the progress made in the ongoing FTA negotiations and chart out a clear, time-bound roadmap for its finalisation and implementation," the commerce ministry said. India and the UK had announced the conclusion of the FTA on May 6. The pact aims to eliminate duties on labour-intensive Indian exports such as leather, footwear and clothing, while easing imports of UK products like whisky and cars. It targets to double trade between the two economies to USD 120 billion by 2030. The agreement is yet to be formally signed and implemented. The minister will also

India, EU aim to finalise FTA by end of this year, says Jaishankar

Jaishankar, who is in France as part of his three-nation visit, said India also seeks to conclude a defence and security partnership with the European Union

Imports under FTAs can be cleared under the provisional assessment

Rajagopalan answers readers' SME queries related to GST, export and import matters

Icra projects 6-8% growth for hospitality, downgrades outlook to 'stable'

Growth of India's hospitality sector is expected to "normalise" at 6-8 per cent in the current financial year, rating agency Icra said on Monday while downgrading the sectoral outlook to "stable" from positive. The rating agency also stated that foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) to India are expected to remain muted in the next few months in the aftermath of the terror attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, but are estimated to witness a gradual recovery thereafter. However, domestic tourism has been the prime demand driver so far and is likely to remain the same in the near term. Factors, including improvement in infrastructure and air connectivity, favourable demographics, and anticipated growth in large-scale MICE events, with the opening of multiple new convention centres in the last few years, will support the growth over the medium term, Icra said. According to the rating agency, the domestic hospitality sector's earnings and credit metrics are expected to remain stable in ..

Pursue trade deals, but focus equally on enhancing industry competitiveness

India retaliated against some ill-considered statements and actions by the Bangladesh government by closing its land borders for import of some goods from that country

UK to give non-discriminatory treatment to India in procurement under FTA

The UK for the first time has agreed to accord non-discriminatory treatment to Indian companies in its public procurement system under the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries, an official said. On May 6, the two announced conclusion of negotiations for the FTA. It will be implemented next year. "For the first time, UK agreed to take binding commitment to provide non-discriminatory treatment to our suppliers under UK's Social Value regime in their public procurement system," the official said. Under the UK's Social Value law, the British government departments require public authorities to have regard to economic, social and environmental well-being in connection with public services contracts. According to the UK government, the trade pact will give UK businesses "unique and unprecedented" access to India's public procurement market, comprising about 40,000 tenders with a value of at least 38 billion pounds a year. On the other hand, India has agreed to allow Brit

Diageo to cut Scotch prices in India as UK FTA halves import duties

Duties on UK-made whisky and gin will drop from 150% to 75%, and then to 40% over 10 years under India-UK Free Trade Agreement; Diageo to pass on savings

UK FTA: India may leave Pakistan, Türkiye behind in textile exports

India's apparel and home textiles shipments to the UK attract an 8-12 per cent import duty, that would be scrapped under the FTA expected to come into force in calendar year 2026

Medtech industry seeks FTA advisory board to counter non-tariff barriers

Industry groups want a joint FTA advisory body to address regulatory hurdles and dumping risks as India negotiates trade deals with the US, EU and UK

FTAs: It is time for India to pause and reassess its trade strategy

While the full FTA text remains undisclosed, publicly available details reveal signs of concern. This write-up flags three key issues

India, EU to hold next round of FTA talks from Monday for early conclusion

India and the European Union (EU) chief negotiators will begin the next round of talks on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) here from Monday, with an aim to conclude the first phase of the pact as early as possible, according to an official. The two sides have agreed to conclude the agreement in two phases on account of the uncertain global trade environment, particularly due to the US tariff actions under President Donald Trump. "The EU team will be here for the 11th round of negotiations. It will continue till May 16," the official said. Issues where there is convergence would be included in the first part of the agreement. They are aiming to conclude the second part by the end of this year. Talks for the previous (tenth) round focused on areas like market access offers in goods, services, investment and government procurement. India has followed the practice of negotiating trade pacts in two phases with Australia. It is following a similar approach to the US. Commerce ..

US seeks greater India market access for its data centre companies

May negotiate favourable conditions under BTA

No duty cuts on UK wines in India FTA; limited relief for British beer

India is not giving any duty concessions on British wines and is providing only limited import duty benefits on UK beer under the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries, announced on May 6, an official said. The other sensitive agri products where India will not offer any reduction in the import duty include dairy products, apple, cheese, oats, animals and vegetable oils under the agreement with the United Kingdom. "Wine is on the exclusion list, along with several other agricultural products in the trade pact. We are also offering only a limited duty concession on British beer," the official said. India and the UK on May 6 announced the conclusion of the free trade agreement which will make British Scotch whiskey and cars cheaper in India, while reducing duties on Indian imports such as garments and leather products here. As per the agreement, India will reduce duty on UK whiskey and gin from 150 per cent to 75 per cent and further to 40 per cent in the tenth year of