Page 7 - Trade Agreements

India, UK trade pact talks at advance stage; we want a fair deal: Govt

The negotiations for the proposed India-UK free trade agreement are at an advanced stage, and both sides are working to iron out differences on the remaining issues, a top government official said on Thursday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the negotiations are taking time because "we want" to safeguard India's interest. "India should commercially gain out of it and we should also be able to safeguard the interest of our farmers, PLI (production linked incentive) scheme goods. So, we are there to see that the deal is a fair deal," he told reporters here. Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry L Satya Srinivas said the talks are at an advanced stage and going on at a "very" high level to iron out differences. The 14th round of talks started on January 10. The investment treaty is being negotiated as a separate agreement between India and the UK. The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to USD 20.36 billion in 2022-23 from USD 17.5 billion in 2021-22.

China threat an opportunity for India-US ties, strong FTA: Congressman Issa

The "threat" posed by China offers an opportunity for the US and India to make strong agreements, including a genuine Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to ensure that the two countries will look at each other as first partners, according to Darrell Issa, an influential American lawmaker. Issa, a Republican Congressman from California, said this during a conversation with Aparna Pande, Research Fellow, India, and South Asia with the think tank Hudson Institute here on Monday. Agreeing that the India-US relationship today does seem to be based in no small part on the China threat, he said, Having said that, I view this China threat as an opportunity to do with that we did not do. The items produced in China could be produced in India, at substantially similar costs (and) would more than allow for India to substantially replace its dirty fuel with clean fuel, Issa said. But that requires that the two countries really make strong agreements, including a genuine Free Trade Agreement (FTA), one

Import concessions

Trade agreements should focus on overall gains

Everyone wants to do an FTA with India due to rapidly growing market: GTRI

Countries ranging from large economies like Europe, and the UK to smaller ones, including Oman and Peru, want to have a free trade agreement with India due to the country's large and rapidly growing market, a report by economic think tank GTRI said. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that by implementing a trade deal (FTA) with India, countries can access the Indian market with less or no import duties on substantial trade. This gives their companies an advantage over others in selling to the Indian market. Additionally, since India currently does most of its importing (over 75 per cent) from countries it does not have FTAs with, these agreements are particularly appealing as they offer a significant new market opportunity in India. "Everyone wants to do an FTA with India. Countries ranging from large economies like the US, Europe, Japan, and the UK to smaller ones like Oman, Peru, and Mauritius either already have or actively seeking an FTA with India. The main reaso

India on lookout for major global labour arrangements for skilled workers

Govt in discussion with several countries to send skilled workers

Never been closer to reaching pact on free trade with India: EFTA

The European Free Trade Association is a trade organisation and free trade area consisting of four European states- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

No deadline for UK FTA but working on a timeline: Commerce Secretary

Out of four pillars, India has joined three pillars - supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption) and is an observer under the trade pillar

India-Peru to recommence free trade agreement negotiation on Tuesday

There will also be discussions on services, the movement of people, and the investment chapter later in the month based on the mutual convenience of the negotiators

At WTO, growing disregard for trade rules shows world is fragmenting

Those depositing cases include China, Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, South Korea and the United States

Canada pauses negotiations on trade agreement with India: Official

Canada has paused negotiations for a free trade agreement with India and now both the countries will mutually decide about resuming the talks in the future, an official said. "The Canadian side conveyed that they were taking a pause in India-Canada negotiations on the Early Progress Trade Agreement. This will enable us both to take stock of progress and next steps. We will decide by mutual agreement when negotiations will resume," the official told PTI. Over half a dozen rounds of talks have been held between the countries on the trade pact so far. In March last year, the two countries re-launched negotiations for an interim agreement, officially dubbed as Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA). In such agreements, two countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also liberalise norms for promoting trade in services and attract investments. Indian industry was looking at duty-free access for products like textil

India aims to trade electricity with Southeast Asian countries: Report

The grid linkages, which industry official said could take at least four years to complete, follow India's effort to begin trading power with Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates

Want to strike truly ambitious trade deal with India: UK PM Rishi Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday evening reiterated his commitment to a truly ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) with India as he hosted a special reception to celebrate India Global Forum's UK-India Week 2023 in the garden of 10 Downing Street here. The 43-year-old British Indian leader interacted with business leaders and celebrities, including boxing champion Mary Kom, musicians Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain, and Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor, as part of what he dubbed as the start of an Indian summer for the UK. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modiji and I agree there's huge potential here. We're making great progress together on the 2030 roadmap and we want to strike a truly ambitious trade deal that benefits both our nations, bringing tremendous opportunities to businesses and consumers, both in India and here at home, said Sunak, who was joined at the garden party by wife Akshata Murty and mother-in-law Sudha Murty. It's not just UK-India Week, but a whole ...

India, Australia may conclude talks for comprehensive trade deal by Dec

Both sides have already had three rounds of negotiations, during February-June. The fourth round is scheduled in July 2023

IFFCO, Kapoor Enterprises ink pact for export of nano liquid urea to US

Leading fertiliser cooperative Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) on Thursday said it has signed an agreement with California-based Kapoor Enterprises Inc for export of nano liquid urea to the US. The agreement was signed on June 21 in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US. "IFFCO now started exporting ...nano liquid urea to the USA," the cooperative said in a statement. IFFCO, however, did not provide any details about the quantity and value of the contract it has bagged from Kapoor Enterprises. Currently, the cooperative is exporting more than 5 lakh bottles of nano liquid urea to more than 25 countries. In June 2021, IFFCO launched the world's first nano urea fertiliser, while nano DAP in April this year. A 500-mililitre bottle of IFFCO nano urea liquid will replace at least one bag of conventional urea. The bottle can significantly bring down the cost of logistics and warehousing, the cooperative said. IFFCO has already sold more than

India, Australia add 15 new areas for talks on comprehensive trade deal

Collaboration in space, mining and sports are among 15 new areas mutually identified by India and Australia for negotiations under the comprehensive free trade agreement, a senior government official said on Thursday. For the first time, these new segments would become part of a trade pact being negotiated by India. Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal said that the third round of talks for the proposed comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) will end on June 16 and the next round of talks is scheduled in July. India and Australia have already implemented an interim trade pact in December last year and now negotiations are underway to expand the base of that pact for a CECA. "In addition to five areas which we had committed and which will be taken up under CECA, there are 15 new areas where mutual interest has been shown by both sides," Agrawal told reporters here. The official teams on both sides are discussing these areas to finalise the

Next round of talks for India-UK trade agreement to be held in June

India and the UK will hold their next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement in June here and both the sides are aiming to conclude the negotiations at the earliest, a senior government official said on Monday. Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Saranagi said that trade negotiations are a matter of give and take and this has nothing to do with elections in individual countries. There will be general elections in India next year. "The effort is to expedite the negotiations...(There was a) Diwali deadline (to conclude the talks last year) was given, but for variety of reasons, it was extended. But the effort on both sides is to conclude it at the earliest," he told reporters here. The tenth round of negotiation is from June 5-9 here and "hopefully we will make some substantial progress during that time," he added. The negotiations were launched on January 13, 2021. The talks cover 26 policy areas/chapters. Investment is being negotiated as a separa

Canadian trade minister sees progress on early-stage agreement with India

Ng said she has a strong relationship with Goyal and that they are advancing toward a signed agreement

India, France's trade ministers discuss progress on India-EU trade pact

Trade ministers of India and France have held discussions related to the ongoing talks for a free trade agreement between India and the European Union, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was here to attend India-France Business Summit and CEOs roundtable meet. He held bilateral meetings with several CEOs and French minister for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad Olivier Becht. The ministers discussed priority areas related to India - EU FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations where issues related to market access were deliberated," it said. Goyal also said India is looking to buy 2,000 commercial aircraft in the next 10 years and there is a huge opportunity to make commercial aircraft in India to meet domestic and international demand. With the purchase of Rafale and the recent Airbus order, more value has been added to this partnership, he added. In January last year, India and the EU resumed ...

India, Aus to conclude talks for comprehensive free trade agreement soon

India and Australia have agreed to conclude the negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement "as soon as possible" as there is huge potential to enhance bilateral commerce in the next five years, according to a joint statement issued on Sunday. The statement was released after the meeting of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Australia's Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell here on March 11. Both countries have already implemented an economic cooperation and trade agreement (ECTA) in December 2022 and are now negotiating to widen the scope of that pact into a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA). "Ministers look forward to concluding CECA as soon as possible," the statement said. The CECA will create new employment opportunities, raise living standards and improve the general welfare in both countries, it added. The ministers also highlighted the importance of a smooth and timely clean energy transition as both countries work towards ...

India-Australia to finalise economic cooperation agreement by this year

The MoUs were signed in sports and for audio-visual co-production, while terms of reference for solar taskforce were also exchanged between India and Australia