Late last month, India torpedoed a deal to simplify, standardise and streamline the rules for shipping goods across borders, know as 'trade facilitation', after it demanded concessions on agricultural stockpiling.
US officials said the win will help lower trade barriers and open new markets.
A certain segment of the US pharma industry have become vocal about Indian policies on domestic content requirements and IPR.
Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda on Tuesday said a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) on crops cannot be brought in a hurry without consulting all stakeholders and urged the protesting farmer groups to have a structured discussion with the government on the issue.
The Centre is unlikely to offer new direct tax incentives for units operating in special economic zones (SEZs) and may instead allow the grandfathering of previous exemptions that such units were entitled to, according to proposed amendments to the SEZ Act, 2005, people aware of the matter said. The amendments, proposed by the commerce department, will soon be considered by the Cabinet for approval. This represents a departure from the department's earlier plan to introduce these changes through the Development Enterprises and Services Hubs (DESH) Bill, 2023, which faced strong criticism from the ministry of finance.
India has expressed its disappointment over non-reaffirmation to conclude 14-year-old Doha Round pacts
Subdued demand from developed countries and blocs like the US and EU is impacting exports of key sectors including engineering, gems and jewellery and may have implications on India's exports in case the global situation does not improve in coming months. Global inflation, Russia-Ukraine war, simmering China-Taiwan crisis and supply disruptions are hurting economic growth worldwide, leading to poor demand, experts say. The world merchandise trade volume is expected to grow 3 per cent in 2022 against the earlier forecast of 4.7 per cent, mainly due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, according to the World Trade Organization forecast, released in April.
This will be an area where bilateral or regional trade pacts may not be able to perform well.
When asked about the possibility of talks getting extended for another day, World Trade Organization spokesperson Keith Rockwell said: "The concept of time is flexible in WTO."
Even as the bilateral relationship between the two neighbouring countries remains hostile, there is growing coordination between India and Pakistan on one multilateral forum - the World Trade Organization (WTO). Both countries have made two joint submissions at the WTO as co-sponsors in the past two months. In June, Pakistan joined India, Cuba, and 44 African countries, seeking sufficient flexibility in intellectual property rights for developing countries to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
Trade enhancement is not about lowering tariff barriers, but dismantling such regulatory barriers.
India decided last week not to ratify WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement.
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The ministers also expressed concern over the slow pace of global economic recovery and stressed that 'the uncertainty regarding economic growth and policy responses in developed countries could lead to increased volatility in financial markets and further affect the international economy'.
India said on Tuesday it was investigating US policies supporting solar panel makers, the latest move in an escalating row over renewable energy that has worsened already strained ties between the two countries.
That is bad news for officials taking part in discussions at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this week.
New foreign trade policy to stress manufacturing exports.
At the meeting of the 160-member World Trade Organisation in Geneva on Friday, India demanded a halt to the trade facilitation timetable till a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security is found.
Dar also said Pakistan views Russia as an important player in the West, South and Central Asia, and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia remains an important priority for Pakistan's foreign policy.
For the first time in the last eight years, India would not have any representative for the post of deputy director general.
Trump said the US would "never forget" what "they" (China) did to the country.
India may not be prepared to meet US demands, say experts
A Priority Foreign Country is a status reserved for those nations that are the most egregious violators of intellectual property rights and have the most negative impact on US competitiveness abroad.
The government on Friday came out with Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 which seeks to boost the country's exports to $2 trillion by 2030 by shifting from incentives to remission and entitlement based regime. Unlike the practice of announcing 5-year FTP, the latest policy has no end date and will be updated as and when needed, said Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi while briefing media about FTP 2023. Earlier, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal unveiled FTP 2023 which will come into effect from April 1, 2023.
Agreement 'endorsed' by members and being legally vetted but will be part of the main Doha agenda only after a tenuous process.
In April, the 28-member European Union had temporarily banned the import of Alphonso mangoes and four vegetables from India from May 1.
Time's profile of Modi says that in its 74 years as an independent nation, India has had three pivotal leaders -- Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Modi. "Narendra Modi is the third, dominating the country's politics like no one since them."
Out of India's total merchandise trade of $641 billion in 2015-16, Pakistan accounted for a meagre $2.67 billion
The Delhi high court on Friday awarded Rs 20 lakh to Microsoft in damages in a 12-year-old copyright infringement suit. Microsoft said that a Mumbai-based firm was illegally using its software programs in which its copyrighted products, including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and Windows Server were being reproduced and used for commercial purposes at the firm's offices. The court had on May 24, 2010, passed an injunction restraining the Mumbai firm from infringing the plaintiffs' software programs.
India's exports may have touched an all-time high of $422 billion in 2021-22 but recession in key western markets and geo-political crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war are expected to impact the growth of the country's outbound shipments in 2023. All the global trade promoting factors like political stability, movement of goods, adequate availability of containers and shipping lines, demand, stable currency and smooth banking systems are in disarray. Adding to the woes, COVID cases have again started rising in countries like China, Japan, South Korea and the US.
'It took us 75 years to reach a per capita income of $2,730.' 'According to IMF projections, it will take only five years to add another $2,000.'
'Every type of deal that US government officials were privately indicating 'hope' to have included a few months back made it in.'
India's export basket for Pakistan has a limited portfolio as Pakistan has not given 'most favoured nation' status to New Delhi and such goods have ready market in South Asia and the Middle East.
The meet will see Goyal batting for structural reforms at the WTO, where India has repeatedly called for reforms, especially in the dispute resolution mechanism that has effectively been held hostage by the US.
A global trade union for construction workers that has criticized labour conditions in Qatar will inspect soccer stadiums being built for the 2022 World Cup in the Gulf Arab state.
The commerce ministry has recommended the continuation of anti-dumping duty on a Chinese chemical used in food and pharma industry with a view to guard domestic players from cheap imports. In a notification, the ministry's investigation arm, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), has said there is a "positive" evidence of likelihood of dumping of Sodium Citrate and injury to the domestic industry if the existing anti-dumping duty were to be removed.
Close on the heels of Boeing's defence of India to the US International Trade Commission's investigation into India's trade, investment and industrial policies, IBM has also sprung to New Delhi's defence in an otherwise sea of criticism of India's violations of intellectual property rights, local content requirements, among other issues of concern to US business and industry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for reforming the World Health Organisation and streamlining its approval process for vaccines and therapeutics, and favoured making flexible the WTO's rules relating to trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights.
According to Ajai Sahai, director-general and CEO of Federation of Indian Export Organisations, rising cases are a cause for concern as it adds to the uncertainty and may impact exports.
The US president alleged that China had been indulging in tremendous intellectual property theft worth hundreds of billions of dollars on a yearly basis.
The decision preceded long hours of tense negotiations and last minute hiccups from Argentina and Pakistan
