Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said India is in “positive momentum” with respect to signing trade deals with the UK, Australia, Canada, Bangladesh, the European Union (EU), and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations. Goyal said while the government is working towards “early harvest” agreements with the UK and Australia as part of a larger trade pact, the US has indicated that it is not considering a new trade agreement with India.
India, he said, would look at working with the US on market access issues to promote bilateral trade. India has had extensive discussions with the US on a limited trade deal, but it didn't go through. He stated ‘UK is progressing well. Teams are talking to each other. Line ministries are identifying areas in which we can quickly close the deal in terms of early harvest, if possible. Instead of trying to address 11,000 (tariff) lines, we can look at their and our areas of interest and close an early harvest agreement and (then) negotiate on the rest of the agreement.’
Similarly, he said Australia has shown the “highest level of engagement” and significant interest to do an early harvest agreement. An early harvest deal is a precursor to a free trade agreement (FTA), in which trading partners reduce tariff barriers on limited goods to promote trade. Finalising a trade deal between India and the EU may not be a smooth ride, considering there are 27 nations in the trade bloc and talks have restarted after a gap of eight years. He said ‘We will work very hard to speed it up.’
