India and Australia are in talks for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), after already having signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) in 2022.
Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, has said that the country’s exports worth $30 billion have entered India since December 2022, and the Australians saved around $225 million on goods from India.
India’s exports to Australia in the previous fiscal year were recorded at $7.94 billion, while imports were noted at $16.15 billion, with bilateral trade recorded at $25 billion.
With both countries looking to expand their trade ties under CECA, the 10th round of negotiations was held from 19th to 22nd August in Sydney to cover sectors like goods, services, rules of origin, government procurement, digital trade, and agri-technology.
With several tariffs already reduced in agricultural trade with India, Farrell said that Australia is seeking to remove tariffs on products like chickpeas, apples, and pistachios. However, he made it clear that they won’t delve into areas of concern flagged by India.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Australian counterpart in Adelaide, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal assured that duty concessions in the dairy sector haven’t been part of any FTAs being negotiated, keeping in mind the need to protect small Indian farmers.
The Minister said that it isn’t possible to ensure competition on an equal footing for Indian and Australian dairy sectors, given the difference in farm size and livestock per unit.
