Page 20 - Trade

Port workers defer nationwide strike after successful talks with govt

Relief for transporters, traders who were fearing cost hikes

Engineering exports register 3.6% growth in July amid global challenges

Despite a challenging global environment, India's engineering goods exports continued their upward trajectory in July with a 3.6 per cent year-on-year growth, reflecting the sector's resilience, EEPC said on Friday. The Engineering Export Promotion body EEPC India chairman Arun Kumar Garodia said the engineering goods exports were USD 9.04 billion in July 2024, compared to USD 8.72 billion a year ago month. However, exports to countries like Bangladesh and Russia recorded a decline during the month under review. "The sector's cumulative exports for the April-July period also witnessed a healthy 4.18 per cent increase to USD 36.97 billion," Garodia said. Engineering exports to Bangladesh fell 11.8 per cent year-on-year to USD 153.78 million in July 2024, as against USD 174.35 million in the year-ago month, EEPC said in a statement. The value of engineering exports to Russia declined 26.8 per cent in July this year to USD 90.39 million from USD 123.55 million in the same month last

Govt seeks proposals from industry for setting up e-commerce export hubs

The government has sought proposals from the industry to set up e-commerce export hubs (ECEH) in the country for examination, support, and hand-holding. Based on the proposal, further details, including software requirements for ECEH, to facilitate seamless and expeditious export clearances, will be firmed up, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a trade notice. In this regard, it said, draft modalities for operation of these hubs have been formulated. Based on draft modalities proposed, the government would like to initiate a pilot launch of ECEH. "In this regard, detailed proposal(s) for setting up ECEH may be submitted to this directorate, for examination, support and hand-holding," the DGFT said. In the Budget, the government announced setting up of these hubs to promote exports through e-commerce medium in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode. Initially there are plans to set up 10-15 hubs in the country. These hubs would be designated areas, which wo

India, Aus to resume comprehensive FTA talks on Monday; progress expected

Chief negotiators of India and Australia will begin the next round of talks for the comprehensive free trade agreement from tomorrow in Sydney, where both sides are likely to close negotiations on several chapters of the pact, an official said. Both countries have already implemented an interim pact and are in discussions to expand its scope under the CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement). The interim pact - Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) - came into force in December 2022. The tenth round of negotiations is scheduled from August 19-22 in Sydney. "Out of the total 19 areas of the agreement, we have completed our discussions on four chapters, and we are in very advanced stages in a few others. We hope that in this round, we should be able to close altogether, maybe more than 10 chapters," the commerce ministry official said. In this round, the official said that both countries are likely to get into market access discussions in goods and services. Th

Unilateral environment measures like carbon tax hamper global trade: Govt

India on Saturday said that unilateral environmental measures such as the European Union's (EU) carbon tax do not reflect the principles of equity and hamper equitable world trade. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the Global South countries are facing challenges both in terms of developing climate and sustainable development strategies and responding to unilateral measures such as CBAM (carbon border adjustment mechanism). "Unilateral environment measures do not reflect the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities; and hamper equitable world trade," he said in a virtual address at the third Voice of Global South Summit. India has on different platforms raised its concerns over the EU's decision to impose carbon tax on certain sectors as it would hurt the country's exports. The country is in discussions with the EU on the subject. The EU has decided to impose a CBAM, or carbon tax, which will come into effect from January 1, 2026. Initially, it

Indo-Bangla trade via Bengal land ports to normalise soon despite turmoil

Despite ongoing political turmoil in Bangladesh, trade between India and the neighbouring country through land ports in West Bengal is expected to normalise soon while some movements of goods via one of these facilities were reported on Wednesday, officials said. A meeting between the land port authorities of the two countries is scheduled on Wednesday at South Asia's largest land port Petrapole in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, which is "expected to provide clarity on transportation of goods", the officials said. The Director General of the Border Security Force was also in Petrapole on Tuesday to review the situation along the international boundary in the wake of the crisis in Bangladesh. "Trucks are getting ready, and some cargo movement via Ghojadanga has started for the Bangladeshi side. This is possible because the situation in Bhomra in the neighbouring country, the opposite side of Ghojadanga, remains stable," Carrying & Forwarding Agents Welfare Association ...

Aftershocks of carry trade at core of market rout could still have effects

The massive selloffs had come after a higher-than-expected US unemployment rate on Friday sparked worries

India free-trade agreement with Oman hits market-access roadblock

Differences over access to petrochemical products major bone of contention

Chipmaker Qualcomm forecasts strong revenue, warns of trade-curb impact

Shares of San Diego, California-based Qualcomm rose more than 5 per cent in extended trading after it reported results

Customs duty cut on silver likely to give Centre breather for now

This may help check spurt in imports from UAE under CEPA

Monumental stride in positioning India as logistics powerhouse: Industry

The Union Budget for 2024-25 has taken a "monumental stride" towards positioning India as a global logistics powerhouse as it focuses on infrastructure development, leveraging technology and supporting MSMEs, logistic and shipping industry executives said on Tuesday. "The Union Budget is a monumental stride towards positioning India as a global logistics powerhouse," Gregory Goba Ble, UPS Managing Director in India, said. "This budget has hit all the right notes - focusing on infrastructure development, leveraging technology and supporting MSMEs including traditional artisans through innovative measures such as e-commerce export hubs," He said the initiatives for infrastructure development, particularly the announcement of new economic corridors, along with strategic investments in roads and airports, are poised to streamline logistics operations, reduce costs and enhance connectivity across key regions, charting a clear path towards a more robust, efficient and globally competitive

Economic Survey: What it says on trade, private sector investment and more

The Economic Survey 2024 touched on private sector investment, noting visible green shoots but urging caution. Here's why

Imports from China, Asean at predatory prices main concern: Jayant Acharya

Even imports from Japan and Korea have been elevated. India is basically a vulnerable ground because our domestic demand is very good, said Jayant Acharya, JMD, JSW Steel

India FTA talks set to be revived with first major UK ministerial visit

The renewed parameters of the India-UK free trade agreement negotiations are set to be defined this week as UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is expected in India on Tuesday, the first high-profile visit under the newly elected Labour government in Britain. The free trade agreement (FTA) talks began in January 2022, under the then Conservative government, with a target to significantly boost the GBP 38.1 billion a year bilateral trading partnership but hit a block in the fourteenth round of negotiations to make way for general elections in both countries. A report in The Daily Telegraph' on Sunday quotes a New Delhi source to claim the Indian side would seek clarity on whether the Labour government intends to pick things up from where they were left off or start afresh in some way. India is keen to resume talks on a positive note, but the date needs clarity, the source told the newspaper. The trade deal was at the final stage in the previous government, and we want to see whether th

India flags high trade deficit in policy review meet of China in WTO

India has flagged its concerns over high trade deficit and non-transparent subsidies of China in a meeting at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Geneva, stating those measures impact domestic industry, an official said. Participating at the WTO's trade policy review meeting of China this week, India hoped that China will support issues concerning the Global South. The Geneva-based trade official said India noted that its bilateral trade with China records the biggest trade deficit. New Delhi has expressed concerns over the size of this deficit, and the non-transparent subsidies and mechanisms of China that leads to low prices, hurting local industry, the official added. India's exports to China in 2023-24 stopped at USD 16.65 billion, while imports aggregated at USD 101.75 billion, leaving a trade deficit of over USD 85 billion. China has emerged as the largest trading partner of India with USD 118.4 billion two-way commerce in 2023-24, slightly edging past the US. In the meetin

Govt proposes to include moisture measurements in cereal grains, oilseeds

The government has proposed to include moisture meters in the Legal Metrology Rules to measure moisture levels in cereal grains and oilseeds as part of its efforts to bring transparency in agricultural trade practices. The Department of Consumer Affairs organised a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss the draft rules for moisture meters used for measuring moisture levels in cereal grains and oilseeds, an official statement said. Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs chaired the meeting. Various manufacturers, users, scientific institutions, laboratories, State Government Legal Metrology Departments and VCOs (voluntary consumer organisations) participated in the meeting. The draft rules pertaining to moisture meters were made available for public feedback on May 30, 2024, inviting comments from all stakeholders, by the end of June 2024. All the comments received on the draft rules were discussed in detail during the meeting. "All the stakeholders supported the

Goyal likely to attend Brics trade ministers' meeting in Moscow on July 26

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to attend the BRICS trade ministers' meeting in Moscow on July 26, an official said on Friday. BRICS members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It is a grouping of major emerging economies of the world, comprising over 40 per cent of the world population and accounting over 16 per cent in the global trade. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Russia visit on July 8-9, India and Russia have set an ambitious bilateral trade target of USD 100 billion by 2030. India is focussing on various sectors like electronics, besides taking up issues of non-trade barriers removal, to boost exports to sanction-hit Russia and move towards achieving this target. At present, the bilateral trade stands at about USD 67 billion. The country is looking at various sets of commodities such as electronics, and engineering to increase exports to Russia. Indian marine and pharma exporters face issues in Russia, which New Delhi is loo

Global shipping-market strain revives fear of inflation comeback again

The historic disruption of $25 trillion in global goods trade that culminated two years ago left the deep economic scars of inflation and paranoia about shortages

Budget 2024: Aluminium makers urge govt to up import duty on scrap to 7.5%

Aluminium producers have made a plea to the government to increase import duty on aluminium scrap to 7.5 per cent from present 2.5 per cent in the upcoming budget. They have also sought maintaining the duty on primary aluminium imports at the current rate of 7.5 per cent or a marginal rise to 10 per cent. The move would discourage the influx of sub-standard materials and safeguard the domestic industry which provides livelihood to over 10 lakh people. In its representation to the finance minister, the Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has asked the government to control imports by fixing scrap import duty at par with that on primary aluminium, i.e. 7.5 per cent. AAI has also called for maintaining the duty on primary aluminium imports at the current rate of 7.5 per cent or a marginal rise to 10 per cent, encompassing downstream products as well, in order to protect the domestic market from inundation of cheap imports. Despite sufficient domestic production, primary aluminium .

India's trade deficit narrows in June; exports fall to 7-month low

Growth in merchandise exports fell to 2.6% amid muted demand overseas