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Economic Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
India ensures safeguards for sensitive sectors in UK FTA
India and the UK signed a Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) on July 24 after years of meetings and consultations. New Delhi: Only about a fourth of the UK's exports by value will enjoy immediate duty-free access to the Indian market, while most of the sensitive sectors have been protected, the government said on Friday. Briefing the media on Friday, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said product-specific rules of origin have been put in place. These stipulate value-addition norms that don't allow transshipment or third-country benefits. India has safeguarded its sensitive sectors - from dairy, cereals and millets, pulses and vegetables, to high-value items like gold, jewellery, lab-grown diamonds and certain essential energy fuels, marine vessels, worn clothing, and critical polymers and their monofilaments, smartphones, and optical fibres are also excluded. For strategically important products, particularly those where domestic capacity is being built under Make in India and production-linked incentive schemes, concessions are being provided over periods of five, seven and 10 years. India and the UK signed a Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) on July 24 after years of meetings and accord with the UK differs from other free trade agreements as it reflects India's transition to a more mature economy, said Barthwal. India will enter areas that hadn't been touched upon in other trade deals as it transitions to developed country status, he said. The accord balances 'sensitivities and strengths,' the official said.'We wanted to remove the tag of tariff king and FTA is a way to do that,' Barthwal said. 'FTAs bring a lot of certainty and predictability to businesses which this UK FTA will ensure. FTAs are give and take and when we build a narrative, we are sensitive that it's not one-sided.' US President Donald Trump had referred to India as a tariff king. Barthwal also referred to negotiations with the US and the European Union.'Detailed talks are happening in the EU FTA. Talks with the US are going on — it will fructify,' he India-UK friendship is based on fair play, equity and mutual benefit, the commerce secretary said. 'We protected our sensitivities and they protected theirs. This FTA has been a balance of sensitivities and strengths. It's a complex and comprehensive deal… Our defensive interests have been taken care of,' he UK may take less than a year to ratify the CETA and India will use that time for building the capacity of its exporters and educating them on how to benefit from the accord. The government is conducting an exercise with states and export promotion councils on how they will be impacted.'We are doing granular studies,' he said. India and the UK have agreed to negotiate mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) to facilitate the movement of professionals such as nurses, accountants and architects to Britain. 'Non-tariff barriers will be eased, and regulatory systems and MRAs would be improved,' Barthwal said. Scotch, cars Barthwal said that Scotch is a GI (geographical indication) product, and there is always a production limit. The duty on Scotch whisky will be reduced to 40% over 10 duty cuts, up to 75% over 10 years, have been offered on other alcoholic beverages, with concessions applicable only above a set minimum import price — $6 for bottled and $5 for bulk whisky. The FTA will help in exports of Indian blended whisky, he added.'Indian malt whisky is blended with imported Scotch. So, when bulk whisky comes, it's like an intermediate product,' the official terms of market access to automobiles, India has committed to a calibrated, phased, and development-oriented quota-based liberalisation strategy. Under this, a total annual quota of up to 37,000 cars has been provided at a reduced tariff, with a graded structure for both quota and concessions have been given to electric vehicles, hybrids and hydrogen-powered cars in the first five years.
Deccan Herald
06-07-2025
- Business
- Deccan Herald
Investors head into Trump tariff deadline benumbed and blase
Singapore/New York: Global investors are heading into US President Donald Trump's Wednesday deadline for trade tariffs palpably unexcited and prepared for a range of benign scenarios that they believe are already priced days before the end of a 90-day pause he announced on his April 2 "Liberation Day" tariffs, Trump said the first batch of letters outlining the tariff levels they would face on exports to the United States would be sent to 12 countries on who have been tracking this date for months expect more details to emerge in the coming days and protracted uncertainty too, anticipating Trump will not be able to complete deals with all of America's trading partners in the coming says tariff letters to 12 countries signed, going out they are not overly concerned..'The market has gotten much more comfortable, more sanguine, when it comes to tariff news,' said Jeff Blazek, co-chief investment officer of multi-asset at Neuberger Berman in New York..'The markets think that there is enough 'squishiness' in the deadlines – absent any major surprise – to not be too unsettled by more tariff news and believe that the worst-case scenarios are off the table now.'.Both the tariff levels and effective dates have become moving targets. Trump said on Friday that tariffs ranging up to 70 per cent could go into effect on August 1, levels far higher than the 10 per cent-50 per cent range he announced in far, the US administration has a limited deal with Britain and an in-principle agreement with that had been anticipated with India and Japan have failed to materialize, and there have been setbacks in talks with the European stocks are meanwhile at record highs, up 11 per cent since April 2. They fell 14 per cent in three trading sessions after that announcement but have since rallied 24 per cent.."If Liberation Day was the earthquake, the tariff letters will be the aftershocks. They won't quite have the same impact on markets even if they are higher than the earlier 10 per cent," said Rong Ren Goh, a portfolio manager in the fixed income team at Eastspring Investments in Singapore.."This financial system is so inundated with liquidity that it is hard to cash up or delever at the risk of lagging the markets, with April serving as a painful reminder for many who derisked and were then forced to chase the relentless recovery in the subsequent weeks.".Taxes and the have also been distracted by weeks of wrangling in Congress over Trump's massive tax and spending package, which he signed into law on markets have celebrated the passage of the bill, which makes Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent, while bond investors are wary the measures could add more than $3 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion SP 500 and Nasdaq indexes closed at record highs on Friday, notching a third week of gains. Europe's STOXX 600 benchmark is up 9 per cent in three the risks of tariff-related inflation have weighed on US Treasuries and the dollar, and jostled expectations for Federal Reserve policy. Rate futures show traders no longer expect a Fed rate cut this month and are pricing in a total of just two quarter-point reductions by dollar has suffered a knock to its haven reputation from the dithering on tariffs. The dollar index, which reflects the US currency's performance against a basket of six others, has had its worst first half of the year since 1973, declining some 11 per cent. It has fallen by 6.6 per cent since April 2 alone.."The markets are discounting a return to tariff levels of 35 per cent, 40 per cent or higher, and anticipating an across-the-board level of 10 per cent or so,' said John Pantekidis, chief investment officer at TwinFocus in is cautiously optimistic about the outlook for US stocks this year, but the one variable he is watching closely is interest rate now he expects to see interest rates dip in the second half, 'but if the bond market worries about the impact of the bill and rates go up, that's a different scenario.'
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India to focus on robust pacts with developed nations: Piyush Goyal
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi: India 's focus is on entering into robust trade agreements with the developed world, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday."Our focus is on entering into robust trade agreements with the developed world," Goyal said at an event in has announced its free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK and concluded deals with Australia, the UAE and European Free Trade Association. It is also in talks with the US and European Union."There was a time 15 years ago when we were more focused on doing trade agreements with countries who were really our competitors. Why do an ASEAN agreement... which was done 15 years ago before we came into government... it really is silly because I am opening up my market to my competitors, many of whom have now become the B team of China. So, effectively and indirectly, I have opened up my market for goods that find their way from China into India," Goyal ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), which came into effect in 2010, is currently under review. India has been demanding a review of the pact to eliminate barriers and its or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and this government is focusing on having robust agreements, as it did with Australia and is now set to negotiate with New Zealand in another three-four months, Goyal said."What we did with the UAE and are now close to closing second in the Gulf... and possibly start with other countries of the Gulf region. The rich countries... countries against whom we do not compete but complement," he said. Trade negotiations are going on with Chile and Peru as well.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
US President Donald Trump open to extend July 8 trade talks deadline, US to send deal letters
ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to extend a July 8 deadline for completing trade talks with countries before higher U.S. tariffs take effect, but did not believe that would be told reporters before a performance at the Kennedy Center that trade negotiations were continuing with some 15 countries, including South Korea, Japan and the European Union."We're rocking in terms of deals," he said. "We're dealing with quite a few countries and they all want to make a deal with us." He said he did not believe a deadline extension would be "a necessity."Trump said the U.S. would send out letters in coming weeks specifying the terms of trade deals to dozens of other countries, which they could then embrace or reject."At a certain point, we're just going to send letters out ... saying, 'This is the deal. You can take it, or you can leave it,'" Trump said. "So at a certain point we'll do that. We're not quite ready."U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers earlier that the Trump administration could extend the July trade deal deadline - or "roll the date forward" for countries negotiating in good faith, in certain cases.A 90-day pause in Trump's broadest, "reciprocal" tariffs will end on July 8, with only one trade deal agreed with Britain and some 17 others at various stages of negotiation."It is highly likely that those countries - or trading blocs as is the case with the EU - who are negotiating in good faith, we will roll the date forward to continue the good-faith negotiations," Bessent told the House Ways and Means Committee. "If someone is not negotiating, then we will not."Bessent's remarks marked the first time a Trump administration official has indicated some flexibility around the expiration date for the reiterated the possibility of more negotiating time at a second hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, saying it was "my belief that countries that are negotiating in good faith could be rolled forward."He said the European Union had previously been slower to come forward with robust proposals, but was now showing "better faith," without providing specifics. Trump echoed that more upbeat view on Wednesday, saying, "They do want to negotiate."A deal struck on Tuesday in London with China to de-escalate that bilateral trade war is proceeding on a separate track and timeline, with an August 10 deadline set last president has been the final decision-maker on his administration's tariff and trade policies, but Bessent's influence has increased in recent months and the Treasury chief has been viewed by many trading partners as a moderating announced the pause on April 9, a week after unveiling "Liberation Day" tariffs against nearly all U.S. trading partners that proved to be so unexpectedly large and sweeping that it sent global financial markets into near S&P 500 Index plunged more than 12% in four days for its heftiest run of losses since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Investors were so rattled they bailed out of safe-haven U.S. Treasury securities, sending bond yields rocketing higher. The dollar started their recovery on April 9 when Trump unexpectedly announced the pause. The recovery continued in early May when the Trump team agreed to dial back the triple-digit tariff rates it had imposed on goods from China. Those events have given rise to what some on Wall Street have parodied as the "TACO" trade - an acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out."The only time the market has reacted positively is when the administration is in retreat from key policy areas," Democratic Representative Don Beyer of Virginia told Bessent before pressing him on what to expect when the July deadline expires."As I have said repeatedly there are 18 important trading partners. We are working toward deals with those," Bessent said before going on to signal a willingness to offer extensions to those negotiating in good faith.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Trump says willing to extend trade talks deadline, but says that won't be necessary
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to extend a July 8 deadline for completing trade talks with countries before higher U.S. tariffs take effect, but did not believe that would be told reporters before a performance at the Kennedy Center that trade negotiations were continuing with some 15 countries, including South Korea, Japan and the European Union."We're rocking in terms of deals," he said. "We're dealing with quite a few countries and they all want to make a deal with us." He said he did not believe a deadline extension would be "a necessity."Trump said the U.S. would send out letters in coming weeks specifying the terms of trade deals to dozens of other countries, which they could then embrace or reject."At a certain point, we're just going to send letters out ... saying, 'This is the deal. You can take it, or you can leave it,'" Trump said. "So at a certain point we'll do that. We're not quite ready."U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers earlier that the Trump administration could extend the July trade deal deadline - or "roll the date forward" for countries negotiating in good faith, in certain cases.A 90-day pause in Trump's broadest, "reciprocal" tariffs will end on July 8, with only one trade deal agreed with Britain and some 17 others at various stages of negotiation."It is highly likely that those countries - or trading blocs as is the case with the EU - who are negotiating in good faith, we will roll the date forward to continue the good-faith negotiations," Bessent told the House Ways and Means Committee. "If someone is not negotiating, then we will not."Bessent's remarks marked the first time a Trump administration official has indicated some flexibility around the expiration date for the reiterated the possibility of more negotiating time at a second hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, saying it was "my belief that countries that are negotiating in good faith could be rolled forward."He said the European Union had previously been slower to come forward with robust proposals, but was now showing "better faith," without providing specifics. Trump echoed that more upbeat view on Wednesday, saying, "They do want to negotiate."A deal struck on Tuesday in London with China to de-escalate that bilateral trade war is proceeding on a separate track and timeline, with an August 10 deadline set last president has been the final decision-maker on his administration's tariff and trade policies, but Bessent's influence has increased in recent months and the Treasury chief has been viewed by many trading partners as a moderating announced the pause on April 9, a week after unveiling "Liberation Day" tariffs against nearly all U.S. trading partners that proved to be so unexpectedly large and sweeping that it sent global financial markets into near S&P 500 Index plunged more than 12% in four days for its heftiest run of losses since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Investors were so rattled they bailed out of safe-haven U.S. Treasury securities, sending bond yields rocketing higher. The dollar started their recovery on April 9 when Trump unexpectedly announced the pause. The recovery continued in early May when the Trump team agreed to dial back the triple-digit tariff rates it had imposed on goods from China. Those events have given rise to what some on Wall Street have parodied as the "TACO" trade - an acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out."The only time the market has reacted positively is when the administration is in retreat from key policy areas," Democratic Representative Don Beyer of Virginia told Bessent before pressing him on what to expect when the July deadline expires."As I have said repeatedly there are 18 important trading partners. We are working toward deals with those," Bessent said before going on to signal a willingness to offer extensions to those negotiating in good faith.
