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India’s overall exports to Australia remain little changed after trade pact | Business News

Published on December 29, 2023 by admin

India’s overall exports to Australia remain little changed after trade pact | Business News

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India’s overall exports to Australia (in value terms) between January and November — after the limited trade pact came into effect from December 29, 2022 — marginally declined on a year-on-year basis, even though exports of items that got duty concession increased, official data showed.

The slight fall was largely caused due to the lower value of petroleum product exports, which account for over 50 per cent of the value of India’s exports to Australia.

India exported goods worth $7.23 billion to Australia between January and November this year, down from $7.62 billion in the same period last year, the data showed.

Indian goods exports have declined globally owing to sluggish demand in the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and high inflation.

At a press conference in New Delhi Friday, government officials said exports of items such as engineering goods, electronics, apparel, and pharmaceuticals have jumped after India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) came into effect on December 29 last year.

Festive offer

Between January and November this year, exports of engineering goods increased to $1,280.06 million against $1,257.39 million in the same period last year. Exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals were at $422.28 million against $372.39 million, and exports of readymade textiles rose to $289.73 million compared to $275.85 million.

“The free trade agreement with Australia was done seeing the comparative advantages, and industry has been making use of the same. There are early signs of export growth in the areas where there were preferential tariffs,” Rajesh Agarwal, Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, said during the press briefing.

PTI quoted Agarwal as saying that Australia’s foreign direct investments (FDI) in India have jumped from an average $30-40 million to $300 million this year.

Agarwal said negotiations are underway to expand the existing trade deal. Talks on rules of origin will happen next month, he said.

Agricultural exports from Australia to India, including items such as sheep meat, seafood, broad beans, citrus and almonds, grew 50 per cent since the trade agreement came into force, the Australian government said in a statement Friday.

“In the year since this agreement came into effect, we have seen enormous gains for a range of Australian exporters, including our farmers, manufacturers, and our universities. This is a relationship we need to invest in and I look forward to working with India to take our trade agreement to the next level,” said Don Farrell, the Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism.

About 51 per cent of Australia’s nearly 6,500 tariff lines attracted zero import duty even before ECTA kicked in. Under ECTA, duty for 3,185 tariff lines was brought down to zero with effect from December 2022. In the case of some products, however, the duty reduction will take place over five years.

India has offered preferential access to Australia on more than 70 per cent of its tariff lines. These include raw materials and intermediaries such as coal, mineral ores and wines.

Australia said that most of its industrial exports to India have jumped by around 30 per cent, with pharmaceuticals, wood and paper and cochlear implants seeing most gains.



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