Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that at least two free-trade agreements (FTAs) could be clinched in 2023, according to an FE report. India is in FTA talks with countries, including the UK, Canada, the EU and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).
While Goyal didn’t name any potential FTA partner, official sources expected India to clinch such pacts with at least the UK and Canada in 2023, the report said.
Goyal on Thursday said the commerce ministry does not have the badwidth to accede to requests for FTA talks by smaller trading partners like New Zealand (annual trade with New Zealand stands at just $350 million), as talks with many countries are already going on.
The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA), which was signed on April 2, 2022, has come into force, with effect from on Thursday (December 29). Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said it is the beginning of a new innings and is a milestone moment in bilateral ties.
India had in April inked a historic trade deal with its business partner Australia to export over 95 per cent of its goods to the island country free of duty. The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, called by India as IndAus ECTA signifying unity, was signed in a virtual ceremony on the day by Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal and Australian trade minister Dan Tehan, in presence of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Scott Morrison. This is the first trade agreement India has made with a developed economy after more than a decade.
Under the agreement, Australia is offering zero duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of exports (by value) from day one; this covers many products which currently attract 4-5 per cent customs duty in Australia.
India has provided preferential access to Australia on over 70 per cent of its tariff lines, which are primarily raw materials and intermediaries such as coal, mineral ores etc., which are required for our domestic manufacturing industry
Major exports by India to Australia include petroleum products, textiles and apparels, engineering goods, leather, chemicals and gems and jewellery. Imports mainly include raw materials, coal, minerals and intermediate goods.
Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India, while New Delhi is Canberra’s 9th largest partner; bilateral trade in goods and services stood at $27.5 billion in 2021. India’s labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food, and agricultural products, engineering products, medical devices, and automobiles, will benefit.
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