India will look at working with the US on market access issues to promote bilateral trade as Washington has indicated that it is not looking for a new trade agreement as of now, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. He also said that Australia has shown significant interest to do an early harvest pact with India and exporters should share areas of their interest with the ministry. An early harvest with countries like Australia will help India engage with others on similar lines, Goyal said.
“The US as of now has kind of indicated that they are not looking for new trade agreements, but we look at working with them for more market access issues on both the sides and I think that would also be a big relief and a big opportunity opener for our export sector,” he said while addressing the Export Promotion Council leaders in Mumbai. On the proposed free trade pact with the UK, the minister said it is progressing well as both the teams are in talks.
The minister added that even the resolution of the problems related to a trade pact would boost outbound trade to the United States.
Goyal noted that matters such as non-tariff barriers, reaching mutually recognised agreements and aligning on better quality of international standards would lead to a spike in trade between the United States and India.
Goyal also specified the Centre’s priority list of countries with which it was going to forge a free trade agreement.
“Australia is first on the list, United Kingdom, then the United Arab Emirates, and if the UAE happens, the pact with GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] will also be expedited,” he said. “We have already started the dialogue with the UAE and one more country from the Middle East.”
So far, Australia has shown the “highest level of engagement”, Goyal said, according to Business Standard, adding that the country has displayed a lot of interest in early harvest agreement. This early harvest deal is considered a precursor to a free trade deal.
He also noted that discussions with the United Kingdom was “progressing well”.
The minister also said that discussions with the Canadian government had been impacted due to the Covid-19 crisis. Goyal added that the talks were likely to resume after the elections in Canada.
“We also have to open our markets to others if we are wanting a larger pie in their markets,” he said, according to The Hindu. “Therefore, my appeal to all of you is to also identify areas where we have confidence that we can withstand competition.”
