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India will retaliate against non-tariff barriers: Piyush Goyal.
Jan 17, 2024

India will retaliate strongly against any Non-Tariff Barriers against its exports and for that industry has been asked to bring the instances where they have faced barriers to trade to the notice of the government, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Tuesday.

'I have told them (other countries) very categorically that if you put one non-tariff barrier we will put two. It is reciprocal,' the minister said in his closing remarks at the second meeting of the reconstituted Board of Trade.

He asked the industry including small and medium enterprises to convey to the government any non-tariff barriers they face so that India’s negotiating position improves. 'Today I am not able to negotiate with foreign countries because we do not have the data for their non-tariff barriers,' Goyal added.

The non-tariff barriers are one of the barriers erected by countries to check imports despite agreeing to lower tariffs as part of their World Trade Organisation or free trade agreement commitments. These companies in the form of quality, environment and social standards imposed on sellers.

These non-tariff barriers are one of the reasons for Indian exporters not being able to fully utilise the benefits of lower duties that have come with various free trade agreements that India has signed.

Data suggests India’s FTA partners have gained more from the trade openings that have happened. 'Trade deficit increase has been at double the rate for FTA countries,' co-founder of Global Trade Research Initiative Ajay Srivastava had said in a report.

In the period between 2017 and 2022, India’s exports to its FTA partners increased by 31% while its imports increased by 82 per cent, according to the report. India’s FTA utilisation remains very low at around 25%, while utilisation for developed countries typically sits between 70–80%.

At the meeting Goyal asked the industry to take the issue of FTA utilisation very seriously particularly when so many FTAs are under discussions. India currently has 13 FTAs which include developed economies of Japan, South Korea and United Arab Emirates. With the growth economies of Association of SouthEast Asian Nations too there is a trade agreement. India is currently negotiating FTAs with the UK, European Union, Oman, Chile and European Union Free Trade Association that includes the economy of Switzerland.

The minister also announced that initiation of work on Trade Connect ePlatform, an intermediary platform providing the facility to connect Indian exporters and entrepreneurs with various stakeholders in international trade, will commence shortly.

The platform will be ready in next 3-4 months and will provide facilitation for new and aspiring exporters, information on various regulations to access markets, sectors, export trends, easy access of benefits under FTAs, access to sector specific events along with a facility to address trade related queries to officials in Government of India and associated entities to get expert advice.

financialexpress.com

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