Customs regimes can lead to labyrinthine legal disputes. Budget 2026 must recognise that an excessively defensive Customs posture can itself become a trade barrier, point out Mukesh Butani and Shankey Agrawal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Israel for two days to discuss bilateral and regional issues, marking his second visit to the Jewish state and highlighting the growing strategic partnership between India and Israel.
Following a Supreme Court setback, Donald Trump has announced an increase in global tariffs from 10% to 15%, impacting international trade relations and raising concerns about economic repercussions.
Lavrov said that the US has set itself the objective of 'achieving economic domination', adding further to it that Americans want to control the routes to leading countries to provide its energy sources to them.
Eternal-owned quick-commerce firm Blinkit has dropped its '10-minute' delivery claim after intervention by the Labour Ministry amid growing concerns over the welfare and safety of delivery workers.
India will lower duty on European apples to 20 per cent under the trade pact, but the imports would be capped at 50,000 tonnes per year and subject to a minimum import price of Rs 80 per kg, thereby fully protecting domestic farmers, an official said on Wednesday.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India's energy decisions are guided by national interest.
The Indian government informed Parliament that India and the US are engaged in negotiations for a mutually beneficial multi-sectoral bilateral trade agreement. The two countries also cooperate on strategic, economic, and defense matters, managing divergences through high-level dialogues.
New Zealand has liberalised mobility provisions under the concluded trade pact, enabling Indian students to access longer post-study work visas and allowing 5,000 Indian professionals, including yoga instructors and chefs, to work in the Oceania country.
New Delhi will substantially reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods while continuing to protect sensitive sectors. Tariffs on some agricultural products that are not traditionally considered sensitive will be brought down to zero, while in the case of relatively sensitive items, duties will be reduced in a graded manner and quotas will be imposed.
The agreement addresses non-tariff barriers and promotes increased trade in technology products and cooperation between the two countries.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha, which seeks approval for a gross additional expenditure of Rs 1.32 lakh crore.
After recording negative growth for two consecutive months, India's merchandise exports to the US rose 22.61 per cent to $6.98 billion in November despite steep 50 per cent tariffs on domestic goods, according to commerce ministry data. Imports during the month grew 38.29 per cent to $5.25 billion, the data showed.
The government has infused over Rs 3,100 crore into women-led startups over the past six years, through its three schemes including the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) to boost female entrepreneurship across the country, according to an update shared by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Senior officials from India and China's foreign ministries met in Beijing to discuss bilateral ties following a meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi.
India has protected the interest of domestic farmers and MSMEs by not extending any duty concessions on products across several sectors, including agricultural items such as dairy, as well as chocolates, gold, silver, jewellery, footwear, and sports goods, under the trade pact with Oman.
'I don't think we should ever negotiate with deadlines or hard stops because we tend to make mistakes then.'
India has been on an FTA-signing spree of late. Since 2021, it has signed eight trade agreements, three of which -- with the UK, Oman and New Zealand -- were finalised in 2025 alone.
India's merchandise exports grew in the first three weeks of November compared with the same period last year, according to preliminary government data, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. The uptick comes despite globa
'Incidentally, Prime Minister (Modi) and President Trump have also spoken on the phone on eight occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership'
New Zealand has taken a binding commitment under its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India to amend its laws within 18 months of the pact's implementation to facilitate the geographical indication (GI) registration of Indian goods besides wines, and spirits in the island nation. The current GI law of New Zealand only allows India's wines and spirits to be registered.
Quota-based duty concessions granted by India to New Zealand for apples, kiwifruit, and Manuka honey are linked to the delivery of agriculture productivity action plans committed by the island country under the free trade agreement.
The last rites of veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Shivraj Patil were performed with full state honours in his home district, Latur, in Maharashtra on Saturday, with many top leaders in attendance.
The Telangana police on December 16 stated that Sajid Akram, one of the accused in the Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia, was originally from Hyderabad, contrary to earlier reports that had identified the attackers as being of Pakistani origin.
Another priority in the first 100 days could be the launch of an e-platform -- Trade Connect -- to help exporters connect with stakeholders of international trade.
'It will increase the contribution to gratuity, which is something the employer has to give.'
India's exports jumped by 19.37 per cent to $38.13 billion in November, while imports dipped by 1.88 per cent to $62.66 billion, according to government data released on Monday.
As the new Income Tax (I-T) Act, 2025 moves towards implementation from April 1, 2026, the finance ministry is reviewing and simplifying the compliance forms used by charitable institutions. Debjyoti Das, principal chief commissioner of income tax (exemption), said the new Act has already reorganised exemption provisions into a clearer and more coherent structure, and the accompanying procedures and forms are now being examined.
A delegation led by Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal will visit the United States for trade talks on September 22, the commerce ministry said on Saturday.
Next week's three-nation foreign tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will see India and Oman sign a free trade deal. The visit will also pave the way for agreements with Ethiopia and Jordan to increase India's bilateral trade and investments.
Mexico on Thursday imposed a tariff of up to 50 per cent on imports from its non-preferential trade partners, including India, a move that might hit New Delhi's annual $5.75 billion shipments to its third-largest car export market.
India's gems & jewellery exports witnessed 30.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) contraction in October to $2.17 million, amid the imposition of a steep 50 per cent tariff by the United States (US) on several Indian products.
This was perhaps a missed opportunity for India to spotlight a core domestic challenge: The scale of workforce preparation required for a young, populous, rapidly growing country seeking to reach net zero, points out Radha Roy Biswas.
Growth of eight key infrastructure sectors remained flat in October as expansion in output of petroleum refinery products, fertiliser and steel was offset by a contraction in coal and electricity production, according to official data released on Thursday.
The first phase of the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) is 'nearing closure' and would address the hefty 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Indian goods, in addition to resolving America's market access issues, a government official said on Monday.
With the India-US trade talks moving in the right direction, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to visit Washington soon, sources said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has launched an integrated audit across 32 states and Union Territories to assess the ease of doing business for the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is looking into complaints of additional charges being levied by ecommerce platforms when customers choose cash-on-delivery (COD) option instead of paying while ordering items. "The Department of Consumer Affairs has received complaints against ecommerce platforms charging extra for cash-on-delivery, a practice classified as a dark pattern that misleads and exploits consumers," Pralhad Joshi, Union minister of consumer affairs, wrote on X on Friday afternoon.
China has filed a complaint against India in the World Trade Organization (WTO) over New Delhi's subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries. Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that the ministry will look at the detailed submissions made by China.
Retirement fund body EPFO has extended the deadline for filing EPF return or ECR (electronic challan-cum-return) by one week for the wage month of September till October 22, 2025. The employers are mandated to file the ECR by the 15th of every month.
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