Page 4 - Import

India-UK FTA: Work in progress to resolve issues, says commerce ministry

Senior officials of India and the UK held negotiations last month on the outstanding issues of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) and the work is in progress to iron out the differences. According to the commerce ministry, the Indian team visited London from April 16-19 for negotiations. "The teams have made good progress and work is in progress in resolving pending issues. Chapter-wise textual negotiations are nearly closed and schedules on goods and services are at an advanced stage of negotiations," the ministry said. The ministry, however, did not disclose further details. So far, 13 rounds of talks have been completed. The 14th round started in January. There are 26 chapters in the agreement, including goods, services, investments, and intellectual property rights. The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty. On the other h

Next round of talks for India-Asean trade agreement review in July

Senior officials of India and the 10-nation bloc of Southeast Asian nations - ASEAN - will hold the next round of talks in July to review the existing free trade agreement in Jakarta, Indonesia, an official statement said on Sunday. The last round of the three-day negotiations concluded on May 9 in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The discussions for review of AITIGA (Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement) started in May 2023 to make it more trade-facilitative and beneficial for businesses across the region, the commerce ministry said. A joint committee, which is undertaking the review work, has so far met four times. It has finalised its terms of reference and the negotiating structure for the review in its first two meetings and initiated talks for the review from its third meeting, which was held on February 18-19 here. "The fourth Joint Committee meeting for the review of AITIGA was held in Putrajaya, Malaysia from 7-9 May," the statement said. The committee was co-chaired by Rajesh Agraw

Govt allows pea import of consignments with bill of lading issued till Oct

Import of yellow peas is allowed after registration under the import monitoring system for all consignments where bill of lading (shipped on board) is issued on or before October 31, according to a commerce ministry notification. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said the import is permitted without the MIP (Minimum Import Price) and port restriction conditions. "Import of yellow peas...is free without the MIP condition and without port restriction, subject to registration under online Import Monitoring System, with immediate effect for all import consignments where Bill of Lading (shipped on board) is issued on or before October 31, 2024," the DGFT notification said. During April-December this fiscal, the import of yellow peas stood at USD 5.43 million. It was USD 0.14 million in 2022-23.

Govt, industry must work together to reduce import dependence: Pharma secy

Government and industry should work together to bring down import dependence in the medical device segment to below 50 per cent over the next five years, Department of Pharmaceuticals Secretary Arunish Chawla said on Tuesday. Highlighting the critical need to focus on quality to ensure that India becomes globally competitive, he noted that the government is in the process of formulating standards for over 2,000 medical devices being produced in the country in order to make them globally competitive. "Right now our med-tech sector is 75-80 per cent import dependent. In the next five years, we want to bring down this import dependence to less than 50 per cent," Chawla said while speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of an industry event to formulate better policies for the sector. Chawla noted that deliberations were also held during the Meditech Stackathon 2024 to scale the medical device exports to match the level of imports of such articles into the country, he added. Stress

Trade deficit narrows slightly to $69.4 billion in March, says US govt

Goods imports fell 1.6% to $263.8 billion. There were decreases in imports of motor vehicles and parts as well as industrial supplies and materials, which include crude oil

Chatroom: Duty-free inputs used in export output are not export benefits

When you re-import the goods under notification 45/2017-Cus dated June 30. 2017, you have to pay the GST, DBK and RoDTEP amounts at the time of clearance

China's exports decline 7.5% in March, imports also fall as demand slows

China's exports contracted in March after growing in the first two months of the year, underscoring the uneven nature of the country's recovery from the pandemic. Customs data released Friday show exports declined 7.5 per cent in March from a year earlier, while imports slipped 1.9 per cent. Both figures fell short of estimates. In the January-February period, exports rose 7.1 per cent year-on-year while imports climbed 3.5 per cent. China, the world's second-largest economy, posted a trade surplus of USD 58.55 billion in March. The surplus in the first two months of the year was USD 125 billion. The decline in exports partly reflected a higher base of comparison with March 2023, when exports jumped 14.8 per cent as the economy reopened after languishing under strict COVID-19 controls. The economy has slowed partly due to a crisis in the property industry brought on by a crackdown on excessive borrowing. Weakness in exports would be a further drag on growth. We think export volum

Sunflower oil imports hit second-highest level as palm oil retreats

Lower palm oil purchases by India, the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils, could cap the rally in benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures that are trading near their highest in a year

February crude oil imports from Russia edged up from January trade

The world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, India has been gorging on Russian oil since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion on Ukraine in February 2022

India remains world's top arms importer, Pakistan ranks 8th: SIPRI report

India remained the world's top arms importer, but its imports declined by 11 per cent between 2013-17 and 2018-22, according to a report released on Monday by Stockholm-based defence think-tank SIPRI. The decline was linked to a complex procurement process, efforts to diversify arms suppliers and attempts to replace imports with local designs, the report said. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said the five largest arms importers in the world during 2018-22 were India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia and China. The five largest arms exporters were the United States, Russia, France, China and Germany. The imports by Pakistan, the world's eighth-largest arms importer during 2018-22, increased by 14 per cent, with China as its main supplier, the report said. It said France's arms exports increased by 44 per cent between 2013-17 and 2018-22 and most of these exports were to countries in Asia and Oceania and the Middle East. The report said India received 30

India-US trade likely to top $200 billion this year: Ambassador Garcetti

The India-United States trade is likely to surpass the previous record of USD 200 billion this year and huge opportunities exist for the two countries to expand cooperation in defence, space besides critical emerging technologies like semiconductors and artificial intelligence, said American Ambassador Eric Garcetti on Thursday. The US is proud to be India's No. 1 trading partner with two-way trade reaching nearly USD 200 billion last year, Garcetti told reporters in Indore. "I think this year we will break the (previous) record of USD 200 billion in bilateral trade (between India and the US)," he said. The envoy asserted that US President Joe Biden in the past had emphasized that trade between India and America should rise to the level of USD 500 billion given the potential for expansion. Efforts are on achieve this goal, said the Ambassador who took charge of his new diplomatic assignment last year. Garcetti said huge opportunities exist to further grow Indo-US trade, and for ..

India's free trade agreement with EFTA likely to be signed on March 10

The Union Cabinet on Thursday discussed the proposed free trade agreement between India and four European nation bloc EFTA and the pact is likely to be inked on Sunday, said sources. The negotiations for the pact with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members -- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland -- have concluded. The pact is expected to be signed on Sunday here, sources added. India and EFTA have been negotiating the pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), since January 2008 to boost economic ties. The agreement has several chapters including trade in goods, rules of origin, intellectual property rights (IPRs), trade in services, investment promotion and cooperation, trade and sustainable development, and trade facilitation. EFTA has 29 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 40 partner countries, including Canada, Chile, China, Mexico, and Korea. Under free trade pacts, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate .

Govt panel backs higher carbon tax on coal imports to limit polluting fuel

Coal is among India's top five commodity imports by value. Despite surging domestic production, mainly of low-quality coal with high ash content

Govt extends mandate for utilities to import 6% of coal needs until June

India last year had asked utilities to import 6% of their coal requirements until March due to an unprecedented surge in power and coal demand

Govt cuts import duty on turkeys; exempts extra long staple cotton from tax

The government has fully exempted customs duty on import of extra long staple cotton, and has cut duties on specified varieties of imported blueberries, cranberries and frozen turkeys. In a notification, the Finance Ministry has slashed import duty on certain items of blueberries and cranberries from 30 per cent to 10 per cent in some cases and 5 per cent in other cases. Similarly, import duty pertaining to meat and edible offal of turkeys, were also reduced from 30 per cent to 5 per cent effective Tuesday. According to officials, the duty rate changes on frozen turkey, specified cranberries and blueberries and their processed products is to implement the recommendation of the Department of Commerce following a mutually agreed solution between India and the US. Nangia Andersen India Associate Director- Indirect Tax, Khushbu Trivedi, said, in pursuance of the bilateral agreement that took place in the recent G20 Leaders' Summit between India and USA intended at addressing the past .

Govt focusing on eliminating non-essential imports of coal: Pralhad Joshi

The government has taken several steps to ramp up domestic production of coal and is committed to reducing shipments of all substitutable grade coal, Parliament was informed on Monday. Coal import for blending dropped 44.3 per cent in April-November FY24 over the year-ago period, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. "The focus of the government is on increasing the domestic production of coal and to eliminate non-essential imports of coal in the country. Most of the requirements of coal in the country are met through indigenous production/supply," he said. The country imported 169.08 MT of coal in April-November FY24. The import was 237.67 MT in FY23, 208.63 MT in FY22 and 215.25 MT in FY21.

Red Sea crisis pushes costs of fuel tanker above $100,000 per day

The cost to ship refined products from the Middle East to Japan added another 3% to $101,000 a day on Thursday, according to data from the Baltic Exchange in London

SC junks review plea on overvaluation in capital goods' import by Adani cos

According to a lawyer associated with the case, the court had found that the project cost of APML and APRL was either similar or lower than the price of their competitors

Cabinet clears Rs 8,500 cr incentive scheme for coal gasification projects

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a Rs 8,500 crore incentive scheme for coal gasification projects, sources said. The adoption of gasification technology in India is expected to reduce the country's reliance on imports of natural gas, methanol, ammonia and other essential products. The cabinet has given its go-ahead to Rs 8,500 crore incentive scheme for coal gasification projects, the sources said. The government is targeting to gasify 100 million tonnes (MT) of coal by 2030. In gasification process, coal is partially oxidised by air, oxygen, steam, or carbon dioxide under controlled conditions to produce a liquid fuel known as syngas. Syngas or synthesis gas can be used for power generation and to make methanol as well.

Shipping industry CEOs see no short-term end to Red Sea disruptions

Among the other leaders watching the renewed threats to supply chains was European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde