FTA

Deal to focus on wider market access for goods and services

Funding research in a set of autonomous or private knowledge organisations will help

US commerce secy says FTA off the table, IPEF to be more economically beneficial

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Thursday expressed hope that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) will prove to be more economically impactful than a free trade agreement (FTA) with India. The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo. The 14 IPEF partners represent 40 per cent of global GDP and 28 per cent of global goods and services trade. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has opted out of the trade pillar and has decided to join the remaining three subjects pertaining to supply chains, clean economy and fair economy. Raimondo said that a trade agreement with India is at present not on the table and the US Congress has stated that there is no appetite for an FTA. "My hope is that the IPEF...my strong belief is that it will prove to be in many ways more economically impactful t

The seventh round of India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) talks concluded following technical discussions across 11 policy areas over 43 separate sessions between negotiators from both sides here last month, the British government has said. In an outcome statement released on Monday, the Department for Business and Trade did not give any further details on the policy areas covered, but confirmed that the eighth round of talks is due to take place in a few weeks' time. On 10 February 2023, the United Kingdom and the Republic of India concluded the seventh round of talks for an India-UK FTA, the outcome statement reads. Technical discussions were held across 11 policy areas over 43 separate sessions. They included detailed draft treaty text discussions in these policy areas. The eighth round of negotiations is due to take place later this Spring, it said. As with previous rounds, last month's session was also conducted in a hybrid fashion, with a number of Indian officials travelling

The organisation fears any import tariff liberalisation could be offset by increases in state-level taxes

India expects its proposed free trade agreement with the European Union to be a "game-changer" and is looking forward to a mutually advantageous conclusion to the negotiation process for the pact within a "short planned timeline", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday. In an address at an event at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Jaishankar also said that Europe and India can strengthen each other's strategic autonomy by reducing dependencies, cooperating on critical technologies and ensuring supply-chain restructuring. "We expect the India-EU FTA will be a game-changer for the India-EU relationship. We look forward to a mutually beneficial, mutually advantageous conclusion to the negotiation process within a reasonably short planned timeline," he said. In June last year, India and the European Union restarted the negotiations for the long-pending trade and investment agreement after a gap of over eight years. Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for t

Both sides were expected to launch trade negotiations in November last year

Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said a free trade agreement with the European Union (EU) will take longer as negotiations with the 27-country bloc will be prolonged. Active negotiations for the FTAs (free trade agreements) are ongoing with two-three countries and the EU, Goyal said speaking at the Technotex event here organised by industry lobby Ficci. He said there will soon be some "good news", the pact with the EU may take longer. "EU will take a longer time, because there are 27 countries which have to come on the same page," the minister said. Last year, India signed FTAs with Australia and United Arab Emirates. Reports had suggested that the country is in talks with other countries including the United Kingdom, Israel and Canada. Goyal said the government is mulling to come out with a production linked incentive scheme for the finished goods sector, but did not elaborate on the same. He said the government has received applications for only Rs 250 crore for .

The move is aimed at reducing transaction costs for exporters and importers, a source said

Subrahmanyam retired as the commerce secretary on September 30

At the conclusion of the seventh round of India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations and ahead of the eighth round scheduled in New Delhi next month, a senior industry expert in the UK believes there are encouraging signs of appetite on both sides to agree a deal and fully utilise its benefits. Syma Cullasy-Aldridge is the Chief Campaigns Director at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and has just returned after leading the group's first-ever business delegation to New Delhi and Mumbai aimed at unlocking opportunities of a potential FTA. The Indian-origin campaigns chief for the industry body, which speaks on behalf of 190,000 UK businesses of all sizes and sectors, described the visit as really, really brilliant in highlighting the immense scope for partnership and collaboration across key sectors. What really struck me was the opportunity and appetite on both sides for collaboration and partnership around key sectors like green finance, innovation and new technology

India exported goods worth $285.9 billion during the June-January period, up 3.1%

"As per the UK government, BBC is an autonomous organisation and the even UK government is not owning up to it," said the official

Britain's trade minister in charge of negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with India on Tuesday admitted the talks had hit a "bit of an impasse, which she broke by flying to New Delhi last month. UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the deal is now "back on track", in an apparent reference to the Diwali 2022 deadline for the FTA set by former prime minister Boris Johnson being missed last October amid political turmoil in Britain. Addressing Lancaster House in London in a speech laying out her Top five priorities for trade", the minister insisted that she was a problem solver at heart and is confident a "high quality" deal will be struck with India. "Some of you will know I was a software engineer and a systems analyst before I became a politician. That means I'm a problem solver at heart," Badenoch told the business gathering. "So when our Indian trade talks hit a bit of an impasse, I didn't pick up the phone, I got on a plane. That deal's not done yet, but it's back on trac

The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is expected to be clinched this year but it won't involve any boost of free movement visa offers for Indians, British trade minister in charge of the negotiations has said. Kemi Badenoch, who was in New Delhi last month to kick off the sixth round of FTA talks with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, said that former prime minister Boris Johnson's "deal by Diwali" deadline last year was not feasible and had to be changed. In an interview with The Times' recently, the UK Secretary of State for Trade also ruled out any major similarities between the FTA the UK had struck with Australia one of the first post-Brexit trade deals and that with India. "We left the EU (European Union) because we didn't believe in free movement, we didn't think it was working. This is not a deal that's negotiating some kind of free movement with India, Badenoch told the newspaper, with reference to more visa offers. The minister indicated a willingness to m

Negotiations between Britain and India for an ambitious Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are well advanced, with the next round of talks set to commence very soon, a UK Foreign Office minister told peers in a debate in Parliament here, asserting that a strong deal could boost the country's economy. Lord Tariq Ahmad, the UK Foreign Office Minister for South Asia, also said Britain's relationship with India is central to its foreign policy and as one of the world's biggest economies it is a key partner. Ahmad was responding to the debate entitled The Importance of the Relationship Between the United Kingdom and India in the House of Lords on Thursday, tabled by British Indian peer Baroness Sandy Verma. He confirmed that negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) are well advanced, with the next round of negotiations set to commence very soon. It is true that, as we set up and strengthen this relationship, the United Kingdom's relationship with India is central to UK foreign ..

All these issues require a lot of unanimity among the negotiating countries and these talks are complex exercises

Bernstein-Reich, who also holds the position of Chairperson of the Israel-India and Sri Lanka Chambers within the Israel-Asia Chamber, will continue in that role

Two specific targets for this elevated engagement were semiconductors and defence production