A free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union is likely to be concluded well before the end of this year, with French Minister for Foreign Trade Laurent Saint Martin on June 3 saying that the proposed FTA could be concluded in the coming weeks or months.
"The European Union and India are progressing toward a Free Trade Agreement, and as a member of the European Commission, I fully support this. I’m optimistic that we could see an agreement in the coming weeks or months. It’s important to demonstrate that we believe in free trade, not trade wars," Martin said after meeting India's minister for commerce and industry, Piyush Goyal, in Paris.
Goyal is currently on a five-day official visit to Europe (June 1-5), with key engagements in France and meetings with EU officials. The visit aims to strengthen economic ties and advance discussions on the India-EU FTA. Moving from Paris, Goyal will also visit Italy between June 4-5.
The European Union is a grouping of 27 nations, including France and Germany.
France one of India's best economic partners
Minister Martin also said France is one of India's best economic partners. "At a time when global trade is facing challenges, we believe it’s crucial for India and France to strengthen their ties, which means enhancing cross-border trade," he said.
Union Minister Goyal took a delegation of over 50 Indian companies for an India-France CEO Forum held in Paris on June 3. Indian industry leaders such as Sunil Vachani, chairperson, Dixon Technologies, Sanjay Nayar of Assocham, Rikant Pittie of EaseMyTrip and Ravi Limaye of Workhardt were in attendance.
The two countries are working on greater access to each other's markets.
Goyal announced at the CEO Forum that India and France would activate a fast-track mechanism at the ambassadorial level to help businesses overcome trade and regulatory hurdles. “This will help us find new areas of trade and support each other in crossing the rubicon of regulation,” he said.
He said the current $15 billion trade between India and France is far below potential and called for urgent steps to expand bilateral economic ties.
The Indian minister proposed creating joint working groups under the CEO Forum to pursue opportunities in artificial intelligence, tourism, manufacturing, and global capability centres.
India seeks consultations with US at WTO on auto tariffs
India has sought consultations with the United States (US) at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on a tariff increase of 25 percent on imports of passenger vehicles (PVs) and light trucks, and on certain automobile parts. India claimed that these were safeguard measures that should have been notified by the US to the WTO.
The move follows India’s earlier decision to reserve the right to impose retaliatory duties on select US goods in response to Washington's tariffs on steel and aluminium.
India is likely to seek a complete rollback of tariffs on steel, aluminium and automobiles in the ongoing bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US. The two countries intend to conclude the deal by the last week of June, before the 90-day pause on US reciprocal tariffs ends on July 8.
Union Minister Goyal met WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on June 3 on the sidelines of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris. Okonjo-Iweala pressed for India to support the China-led proposal on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD).
A China-led group of 126 countries is pushing for the IFD proposal.
India has consistently opposed it, since the IFD is being negotiated through a Joint Statement Initiative, which is a plurilateral process outside the consensus-driven WTO framework. India sees this as undermining the WTO’s multilateral character and setting a dangerous precedent for bypassing consensus.
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