Latest news with #SatyaSrinivas
Indian Express
20 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
India, EU close 7 out of 23 chapters in trade deal; last round to take place in September
As trade negotiations pick up pace amid US tariff threats, India and the EU have managed to close two more chapters in the latest round of talks and narrow gaps in services, a government official said on Tuesday. The two sides have now agreed on seven out of 23 chapters in the ongoing negotiations for what could be the largest trade agreement India has ever entered into. Satya Srinivas, special secretary in the Department of Commerce, said the last (12th) round of talks concluded last week in Brussels. 'We have exchanged our offers on services and non-services… there were discussions on that. We also discussed key interests in market access related to goods as well… The next round of talks (will be held) in the first week of September,' Srinivas said. However, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is not part of the EU trade negotiations, Hervé Delphin, EU Ambassador to India, told The Indian Express last month. 'I have come to discover that CBAM is one of the best-known acronyms in India. First, CBAM is not a trade measure. It is not part of trade and the FTA. It's about compliance with our climate agenda to accelerate decarbonisation,' he said. On February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the European Commission President agreed to seal an FTA deal by year-end. Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal said that the 10th and 11th rounds of talks are likely to be held in August here and in October in Malaysia. 'We are engaged in the negotiations. Nine rounds of talks have been concluded so far… The progress so far has been chequered — not what it could have been — but the good part is that we are moving forward on many aspects, especially on customs and trade facilitation,' Agrawal said. Further, he said talks are also progressing on issues like technical cooperation, SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) and TBT (technical barriers to trade) collaborations. 'We hope there is going to be one physical round in August and… another in October in Malaysia. So we hope that in these two rounds, we should be able to make good progress and try to have some kind of conclusion when the ASEAN-India Summit takes place at the end of October. The endeavour is in that direction. Let's see how much we can achieve,' he said. The review of the agreement is a long-standing demand of domestic industry, and India is looking forward to an upgraded pact that will address the current asymmetries in bilateral trade and make trade more balanced and sustainable. Ravi Dutta Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, covering policy issues related to trade, commerce, and banking. He has over five years of experience and has previously worked with Mint, CNBC-TV18, and other news outlets. ... Read More
The Hindu
a day ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Good progress on EU FTA talks, less so on ASEAN pact review: Government officials
The next few months is going to see a flurry of activity, with various teams of Indian negotiators actively seeking to sign new trade agreements with countries and regions such as the U.S. and European Union (EU) and amend the existing deal with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to government officials. During a press briefing on Tuesday (July 15, 2025), senior officials in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that India was seeing 'good progress' in its negotiations with the EU, and less satisfactory progress on the review of the free trade agreement with the ASEAN. They also said that the Fall deadline for a Bilateral Investment Treaty with the U.S. was still in place. 'With regard to the EU, we have just finished the 12th round last week that was on Friday,' Special Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Satya Srinivas said. 'We have exchanged our market access offers on services and non-services.' Mr. Srinivas said that the negotiators on both sides could close a 'couple of chapters' of the deal and that they held long discussions on other chapters where there was a divergence. 'We had some sort of understanding that emerged on a few of those divergent issues,' he added. 'All in all, it was a very productive round. I think we did cover a large number of areas and it will be the EU's turn to come to India for the next round in the first week of September.' Regarding the India-U.S. trade deal, the Commerce Ministry officials confirmed that a team from India is currently in Washington to negotiate the deal, their third such visit in the last few months. They reiterated the Fall deadline for the conclusion of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The Hindu has learnt that the Indian team has taken sectoral specialists this time around to address minute issues. According to sources, U.S. President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariff letters over the last week haven't had any effect so far. 'If you look at the tariffs today, there are only announcements of tariffs,' a source aware of the negotiations told The Hindu. 'They have not come into effect. Except for the 10% baseline tariff, which is applicable for all countries, no other reciprocal tariff is there for any other country, except for China. China has got a 20% fentanyl tariff over and above this 10% baseline tariff.' Apart from this, the U.S. has imposed sectoral tariffs on iron, steel, auto, and auto components, which range from 25-50%. 'The U.S. trade data shows that the fall in imports the country has faced are largely in these sectors, and in imports from China,' the source further said. 'U.S. imports from all other countries are either staying the same or growing.' Special Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Rajesh Agrawal said that teams from India and ASEAN have held nine rounds of meetings so far. 'The progress thus far has been chequered and we would have liked much more progress,' Mr Agrawal said. 'But the good part is we are moving on many aspects, especially on customs and trade facilitation. We are moving on technical cooperation, and there are discussions around market access.' He added that the next two rounds are expected to be in New Delhi in August, and in Malaysia in October, respectively. 'We hope in these two rounds we should be able to see good progress and try to reach some kind of conclusion by the time the ASEAN-India Summit takes place in end-October,' he said. 'The endeavour is in that direction.'
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Next round of India-EU talks on proposed trade pact in September
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel India and the European Union (EU) will hold the next round of negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement FTA ) in September here as both sides have exchanged offers related to the services sectors last week, an official said on Tuesday.L Satya Srinivas, Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce, said the last (12th) round of talks concluded last week in Brussels."We have exchanged our offers on services and non-services... there were discussions on that. We also discussed key interests in market access related to goods as well... The next round of talks (will be held) in the first week of September," Srinivas told reporters June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications (GIs) after a gap of over eight stalled in 2013 due to differences on the level of opening up of the February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the European Commission President agreed to seal a much-awaited free trade deal by the end of this demanding significant duty cuts in automobiles and medical devices, the EU wants tax reduction in products like wine, spirits, meat, poultry, and a strong intellectual property goods' exports to the EU, such as ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, steel, petroleum products, and electrical machinery, can become more competitive if the pact gets concluded India-EU trade pact negotiations cover 23 policy areas or chapters, including Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade Remedies, Rules of Origin, Customs and Trade Facilitation, Competition, Trade Defence, Government Procurement, Dispute Settlement, Intellectual Property Rights, Geographical Indications, and Sustainable bilateral trade in goods with the EU was USD 137.41 billion in 2023-24 (exports worth USD 75.92 billion and imports worth USD 61.48 billion), making it the largest trading partner for EU market accounts for about 17 per cent of India's total exports, while the EU's exports to India make up 9 per cent of its total overseas addition, the bilateral trade in services, in 2023, between India and the EU was estimated at USD 51.45 billion.
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India, EU may finalise interim FTA by July
NEW DELHI: After the UK, India is now looking to close an "early harvest" trade agreement with the European Union as soon as July with both sides looking to push exports amid the uncertainty caused by Donald Trump's moves on tariffs. Negotiators from both sides are working overtime to finalise the trade pact - which has been in the pipeline for close to two decades - with a team led by India's chief negotiator Satya Srinivas returning to Brussels this week. Govt is expected to offer tariff concessions similar to the ones it has agreed to with the UK, including reducing the levy on automobiles to as low as 10%, while slashing duties on wines, certain types of meat and poultry. In return, it would want the trading bloc to offer easier access to Indian garments, pharmaceuticals, steel and oil products. The interim agreement will not be limited to tariffs and may also include issues such as intellectual property rights (IPRs), govt procurement, and non-tariff barriers, a senior official said. A few years ago, India had entered into an interim pact with Australia, although it had worked out a comprehensive free trade agreement with the UK. Sources indicated that the proposed pact with Oman, which is stuck mainly on the issue of petrochemicals, may also be finalised soon as govt broadens its trade engagement to push exports, both of goods and services. India and EU have agreed to conclude the agreement in two phases on account of the uncertain global trade environment, sources said. In recent months, the talks have received a fillip, thanks to the signals coming from the highest levels. EU too is seen to be more accommodative of India's position on several counts, something it was unwilling to do earlier.
