Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on September 9 said that India and the European Union (EU) are fast-tracking talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the 13th round of negotiations underway in New Delhi.
"The FTA with EFTA nations comes into effect from October 1, around 20 days from now, the one with the United Kingdom (UK) awaits parliamentary approval and with EU, we are trying to speed up," Goyal said at an event in New Delhi.
The 13th round of talks between India and the EU, which started from September 8 is scheduled to continue through the week. Both the sides are aiming to conclude negotiations for the FTA by December this year.
The current round of talks is crucial given that EU’s trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic and agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen are scheduled to meet their Indian counterparts Piyush Goyal and Shivraj Singh Chouhan around September 11.
India also signed a trade deal with the UK in July, which may take up to a year to come into force given the lengthy ratification processes in Britain, while the agreement with the European Free Trade Association nations—Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland will be in effect from next month.
In February, India and EU decided to ramp up talks for a proposed free trade agreement and close it by the end of 2025 to tide over impending troubles from volatile trade policies.
While, the United States has imposed a 50 percent tariff on most Indian goods, the US has lowered duties on nearly all exports from the EU to 15 percent after both sides reached an agreement.
The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 12.2 percent of its trade, ahead of the US (10.8 percent) and China (10.5 percent). The 27-nation bloc is the second-largest destination for Indian exports after the United States.
India is EU’s ninth-largest trading partner, accounting for 2.2 percent of its total trade in goods in 2023, well behind the US, China and the UK.
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