Commenting on the success of the recently-finalised India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) that was signed in London, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, said on Saturday that India is making “fast progress” in its trade negotiations with other countries like the US and Oman.
While negotiations with Oman are “almost finalised”, said Goyal, talks with the US are also making progress. India’s trade deal with the US, once finalised, may double bilateral trade between the two countries to USD 500 billion from the current USD 191 billion.
Teams from India and the US concluded the fifth round of talks in Washington last week as hectic deliberations are taking place between the two countries to finalise the first tranche of the proposed bilateral trade agreement by fall this year. The two are hoping to announce a mini-trade deal by August 1, the deadline announced by US President Donald Trump for suspension of trade tariffs.
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The US team will visit India in August for the next round of negotiations, officials said.
Meanwhile, Goyal said the India-UK trade agreement signed on July 24 in London “will open doors for India to the developed world”.
Calling it a “zero-compromise, phenomenal FTA”, Goyal asserted that India had protected its sensitive sectors – including dairy, rice, and sugar – in the trade deal apart from putting in place bilateral safeguard measures.
“We have not opened these sensitive sectors to the UK. The pact will boost the other sectors, especially labour-intensive arenas like footwear, textiles, gems, and jewellery,” he added.
Throwing more light on the protective measures taken by India to safeguard its interests, the minister said that the FTA with the UK allows India to temporarily raise tariffs or suspend concessions if a sudden surge in British imports harms domestic industries.
“In this agreement, there are bilateral safeguard measures that allow India to temporarily increase tariffs or suspend tariff concessions on certain goods if there is a significant surge in imports from the UK that causes or threatens to cause serious injury to Indian domestic industries," he said.
While the duration of a bilateral safeguard measure under this pact is initially up to two years, the period can be extended for an additional two years if an investigation determines that the safeguard measure is still needed to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate adjustment for the domestic industry.
"Thus, the total maximum duration of a bilateral safeguard measure is four years," the ministry informed.
Furthermore, if a bilateral safeguard measure is implemented for only two years, neither country has the right to retaliate. But if this measure is extended up to 4 years, then countries will have the right to retaliate.
"Provisional measures can be used in critical or emergency situations to prevent irreparable harm to domestic industry. These can be imposed for up to 200 days based on preliminary evidence but must be followed by a full investigation," a ministry statement said.
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