Tag: trade

India-Australia trade agreement: Piyush Goyal says India can now sell more competitive goods to global market

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which could double bilateral trade to almost $50 billion in the next five years, was put into force on Thursday, December 29. The agreement was in the works for over 18 months. Calling the ECTA a “labour of love” and a “complete win-win”, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said India would now receive cheaper raw materials helping the nation sell more competitive goods to the global market.

The ECTA gives Indian exporters duty-free access to thousands of domestic goods in the Australian market in over 6,000 broad sectors, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery. It is being called the Unity Agreement across Australia, Goyal said at the press conference in Mumbai.

Australia has committed to providing duty-free access to India for 100 percent of its tariff lines. This will make goods coming into Australia from India cheaper than those imported from other nations.

India will get access to 98.3 percent of tariff lines starting today and the remaining 1.7 percent in a phased manner over the next five years. Australia has also made commitments in 135 sub-sectors with most-favoured-nation (MFN) status in around 120 sub-sectors. Indian exporters will enjoy greater duty concessions than those in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

This trade agreement is expected to bring immediate progress in India’s labour-intensive sectors, which will see a removal of 4-5 percent import duty. It is estimated to create 40,000 additional jobs in the Indian textile sector and bring increased mobility for Indian working professionals in 11 sectors, Australian ambassador to India Barry O’Farrell said.

The ECTA will also open up a new category of 4-year visas for investors, issue 1,800 new visas to Indian chefs and yoga instructors and also grant students work opportunities after their education.

“ECTA will unlock the enormous potential in our trading relationship,” O’Farrell tweeted.

#IndAusECTA enters into force👏👏! #ECTA will unlock the enormous potential in our trading relationship. Effective today,
▶️ 96 per cent of Indian goods exports can enter Australia duty-free and,
▶️ 85 per cent of Australian goods exports can enter India duty-free. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/KYwbo90QQk

— Barry O’Farrell AO (@AusHCIndia) December 29, 2022

India, too, is making commitments in 103 service sub-sectors with MFN status in 31 sub-sectors. Australia will get duty-free access to 40.3 percent of tariff lines from today and the remaining 30 percent in a phased manner.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India-Bangladesh to hold two-day trade talks on Dec 22-23 | What’s on the agenda

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Over the coming two days, India will engage in talks with its neighbour Bangladesh to round up negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi begins his two-day visit today and is expected to meet Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, his Indian counterpart. They are rumored to hold a joint media briefing.

Bangladesh reportedly has its eyes set on a free trade pact with India while the Modi government is adamant on narrowing the widening trade deficit.

According to the Financial Express, the ministers will focus on India extending essential supplies such as wheat to Bangladesh to compensate for the food shortage caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The publication also speculates that Bangladesh will raise talks on anti-dumping duty on jute.

Also read: Volodymyr Zelenskyy says peace with Russia means no compromises on territory

A CEPA between India and the United Arab Emirates most recently came into force on May 1, 2022. The agreement got rid of customs duty levied on various products such as jewellery products. It is expected to increase the total value of bilateral trade in goods to over USD 100 billion and trade in services to over USD 15 billion within five years, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

Also read: India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement comes into force

CEPA negotiations with Bangladesh are of increased significance as Goyal targets to reach a value of $1 trillion goods exports by 2030.

“I think it’s possible and I come with renewed enthusiasm after having achieved India’s historic high of $400 billion plus exports for the first time ever,” he had said in March.

Also read: India targeting $1 trillion exports by 2030: Piyush Goyal

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

China’s trade sinks in November under virus pressure, weak global demand

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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China’s imports and exports shrank in November under pressure from weakening global demand and anti-virus controls at home.

Exports sank 9 percent from a year ago to $296.1 billion, worsening from October’s 0.9 percent decline, customs data showed Wednesday. Imports fell 10.9 percent to $226.2 billion, down from the previous month’s 0.7 percent retreat in a sign of a deepening Chinese economic slowdown.

The country’s global trade surplus narrowed by 2.5 percent from a year earlier to $69.9 billion.

Trade had been forecast to weaken as global demand cooled following interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia to rein in surging inflation.

Chinese consumer demand has been hurt by a “zero-COVID” strategy that shuts down large sections of cities to contain virus outbreaks. That has disrupted business and confined millions of people to their homes for weeks at a time.

Consumer spending contracted in October and factory activity weakened as anti-virus controls following a rise in infections weighed on the economy.

Retail sales sank 0.5 percent compared with a year earlier, down from September’s 2.5 percent expansion, as millions of people were confined to their homes, government data showed Tuesday. Growth in factory output decelerated to 5 percent from the previous month’s 6.3 percent.

The performance was even weaker than expected by forecasters who said activity would cool as Chinese anti-virus controls and interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks weighed on global activity.

“November is shaping up to be even worse,” said Zichun Huang of Capital Economics in a report.

Chinese economic growth rebounded to 3.9 percent over a year earlier in the three months ending in September from the first half’s 2.2 percent, but economists say activity already was cooling. They have cut forecasts of annual growth to as low as 3 percent, which would be among the weakest in decades.

Exports to the United States fell 25.4 percent from a year earlier to $40.8 billion while imports of American goods sank 7.3 percent to $16.5 billion. The politically sensitive surplus with the United States narrowed by 34.1 percent to $24.3 billion.

Imports from Russia, mostly oil and gas, rose 28 percent from a year earlier to $10.5 billion. Exports to Russia gained 18.5 percent to $7.7 billion.

Also Read:World Bank expects India’s GDP growth to be better than expected but inflation to stay above 7%

Washington, Europe and Japan are cutting purchases of Russian oil and gas to punish President Vladimir Putin’s government for its attack on Ukraine, but their sanctions don’t prevent China, India or other countries from buying its exports.

Beijing is buying more to take advantage of Russian discounts. That irks Washington and its allies by topping up the Kremlin’s cash flow. President Joe Biden has warned Xi against helping Putin evade sanctions.

Xi said in a letter to a business conference this month that China, one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, is ready to “forge closer partnership” with Moscow in energy, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It gave no details.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Indo-Australia trade agreement to come into force from December 29

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The free trade agreement between India and Australia will come into force from December 29 giving duty free access to thousands of domestic goods in that market, which will help in almost doubling the bilateral commerce to USD 45-50 billion in around five years.

The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was signed on April 2, would provide duty-free access to Indian exporters of over 6,000 broad sectors, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery in the Australian market.

Labour-intensive sectors which would gain immensely include textiles and apparel, few agricultural and fish products, leather, footwear, furniture, sports goods, jewellery, machinery, and electrical goods.

Also read: India’s maiden G20 Presidency: How to ensure ‘fair play’ in global taxation game?

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said the trade pact will come into effect from December 29 this year.

“India and Australia consolidate their long-standing partnership. ECTA, realised under the guidance of leaders on both countries, comes into effect from December 29, 2022. It is the dawn of a whole new era for our businesses and people.” Goyal said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Both the countries have completed their domestic requirements to enable implementation of the ECTA.

In a statement, Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said: “The ECTA’s two tariff cuts in quick succession intensify the up-front benefits of this agreement for our exporters”.

Under the pact, Australia is offering zero-duty access to India for about 96.4 percent of exports (by value) from day one. This covers many products that currently attract 4-5 percent customs duty in Australia.

India’s goods exports to Australia stood at USD 8.3 billion and imports from the country aggregated to USD 16.75 billion in 2021-22.

The statement said that from 29 December, tariffs on 85 percent of Australia’s exports to India will be eliminated and high tariffs on a further 5 percent of goods will be phased down.

“Entry into force of the agreement before the New Year delivers a double bonus of two tariff cuts in quick succession: one as the agreement comes into effect and a second on 1 January 2023,” it said.

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It added that ECTA will save Australian exporters around USD 2 billion a year in tariffs, while consumers and businesses will save around USD 500 million in tariffs on imports of finished goods, and inputs to “our manufacturing sector”.

The tariff commitments provided by India in the agreement will open up access for Australia’s exporters of products including critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, lentils, seafood, sheepmeat, horticulture and wine, it said.

Further, it said that Australian service suppliers will benefit from full or partial access across more than 85 Indian services sectors and subsectors. Australian suppliers across 31 sectors and subsectors will be guaranteed the highest standard of treatment that India grants to any future free trade agreement partner.

ECTA will also support tourism and workforce needs in regional Australia by making 1,000 work and holiday programme places available to young Indians, it said adding the pact maintains opportunities for Indian students graduating in Australia to undertake post-study work, with a bonus year of stay for high-performing STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) graduates.

The statement also said that both the countries are now progressing a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement to build on ECTA.

“The Australian Government is pursuing further opportunities in goods and services, in addition to new commitments in areas such as digital trade, government procurement, and new areas of cooperation,” it added.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the agreement is the next step in elevating our relationship with India, the world’s fastest growing large economy.

“Austrade can assist existing and potential exporters benefit from the lowering of trade barriers into the Indian market,” Farrell said.

Also read: 8,000 millionaires migrated from India in 2022, says report

Commenting on the development, Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said that the pact would help boost bilateral gems and jewellery trade to USD 2 billion.

In 2021-22, the bilateral trade in the sector was USD 1.3 billion.

Key commodities exported to Australia are plain gold jewellery, studded jewellery and cut & polished diamonds. The main commodities imported from Australia are precious metals – gold and silver bars.

India’s gems and jewellery exports to Australia grew 21 percent to USD 183.86 million during April–October 2022.

“We expect Australia to benefit from access to areas where India is a world leader, such as diamonds. Australia is one of our large suppliers of gold bullion, and until recently, it was also a key supplier of diamonds,” it added.

Also read: Dealing with China will be a ‘challenge’ during India’s G20 presidency: ex-dy NSA Saran

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

A quick guide on crypto vanity addresses: How to generate them and their safety concerns

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Every crypto wallet contains a public address and private key. You can think of the public address as your e-mail ID and the private key as your account’s password. If someone wants to send you a mail, you need to provide them with your e-mail ID. Similarly, if someone wants to send you Bitcoin, you need to provide them with the public address of your Bitcoin wallet.

Now, the public address of your crypto wallet is a string of randomly generated alphanumeric characters and could look something like this: 19HzGcf5dWpUMyEQNmfsJTJCNQZy8jENWB. It is an entirely senseless combination of numbers and letters.

For the longest time, one could not customise the public address of a crypto wallet in any way. You were stuck with this arbitrary mix of letters and numbers. However, that changed with the introduction of vanity addresses. Tag along as we explain what a vanity address is, how to generate one and whether or not it is safe to use such an address.

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What is a vanity address?

Put simply, it is a public address that can be customised. It will function just like any other public address; the only difference is it will contain a phrase or combination of numbers that is special to you.

Therefore, instead of randomly ordered alphanumeric characters, you get a public key that begins with or contains your special word or numbers. It’s like having a personalised number plate for your vehicle, only it’s for your cryptocurrency wallet.

How do you generate a public address?

Personalised number plates cost money, but vanity addresses are usually free of charge. There are plenty of online vanity address generators that will create a crypto wallet with a customised public key.

All you have to do is enter the special word or number you want to include in your public address and hit enter. The platform will create a crypto wallet with a personalised public address and a private key that you should store safely.

If you do not like the public address generated, you can keep repeating the process until the platform generates one that you are happy with. Most of these vanity address generators are free of cost, and hence you could try it multiple times without any harm done.

Are vanity addresses safe?

Generally speaking, yes. However, there is a chance that hackers can gain access to the servers or database of the vanity address generator tool. From there, they can source the public address and private keys of the wallets generated through the tool. Armed with this information, they can begin syphoning funds to their wallets.

For instance, in September this year, a hacker stole 732 ETH from a wallet created by an Ethereum vanity address generator called Profanity. At the time, the loot was worth $950,000. The hacker then used the crypto tumbler, Tornado, to obfuscate the money trail and get away with the attack undetected.

Conclusion

Vanity addresses serve no practical purpose. Moreover, they are susceptible to attacks. Therefore, they are not a good choice, especially if you are going to use the generated wallet for long-term storage of a large number of coins. In this case, you are better off using an offline wallet, also known as cold storage.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s ‘sweet spot getting sweeter’ as EU resets trade ties with Russia, China: Commerce Secy Subrahmanyam

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In the last financial year, India’s total exports crossed a new landmark of $400 billion.

India is also close to signing a potential free trade agreement (FTA) with United Kingdom. The goal is to seal the deal by Diwali.

Another trade pact with Australia is also in the making.

All this happened during the tenure of Union Commerce Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, who retires tomorrow, September 30.

After graduating from the 1987 IAS batch, Subrahmanyam was tasked with overseeing the bifurcation of Jammu & Kashmir. Since then, he has been helping steer India’s trade policy during the pandemic.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Subrahmanyam said his successor would have an important task of setting up a new trade promotion body.

“A bigger change which is now required is the recasting and restructuring in the commerce department. India is one of the few economies which doesn’t have an exclusive trade promotion body. That is one of the areas which my successor will have to work on. This trade promotion body should become an autonomous kind of a body which is constantly driving the agenda of trade across the world.”

According to Subrahmanyam, PLI is an excellent programme and the only way to kickstart large-scale manufacturing in India.

“Production linked incentive (PLI) is an excellent programme. It is the only way you can kickstart large-scale manufacturing. India missed this bus 25 years ago through reservation for small-scale industries. This is the first time that the government has looked at scale seriously. So if we get onto that track it will be good for India. I am sure there will be efforts to get more sectors back home for manufacturing,” Subrahmanyam said.

Also Read: Govt planning to extend PLI scheme to more sectors

He added that India’s main competition in manufacturing is its own neighbourhood — with countries like Vietnam and Indonesia wanting to attract more investment.

“The real big competition in manufacturing is actually our neighbourhood – countries like Vietnam, Indonesia who want to attract a lot of investment. So I think PLIs are doing a good job and it is constantly tweaked to ensure the results we want.”

Also Read: Govt extends Foreign Trade Policy by 6 months, new policy likely from April 2023

Subrahmanyam felt that import tariffs enable the industry to kickstart domestic production. He said it is important that industry gets protection by way of tariffs to pick up levels of scale and competitiveness.

He said India’s attractiveness has increased and it is important for the country to embrace international trade and finance.

Also Read: Exports remain flat at USD 33 billion in August; trade deficit widens to 28.68 billion

“As days pass by India’s attractiveness is increasing. All our challenges are domestic and not international. The EU is resetting its relationship with China and Russia, they are looking for other partners. So who else is there other than India in terms of size and capacity? So the sweet spot is getting sweeter. There is also recognition all across government that it is important that India reaches out and embraces the world in trade and in finance. I am sure the country is fully geared to capitalise on this opportunity.”

Watch video for entire discussion.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India remains open on issue of trade and services at WTO, but committment will depend on ‘give-and-take’: Sources

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Sources have told CNBC TV18 that while India remains open to discussions on the issue of trade and services at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but will give a binding commitment based on the ‘give-and-take’ offered as part of dialogue. So far India has maintained a nuanced position by abandoning its stand on bigger issues related to the current or the future pandemics.

Sources indicated that even as developed nations like UK and Switzerland put in concerns with respect to TRIPS negotiations, India didn’t block them though it felt that market access on services hasn’t proceeded the way it should have.

Sources said that even if India gets the relevant authorisation on market access to services and a TRIPS waiver, the most important feedback from the industry on technology transfer on vaccines needs to be considered as reverse engineering on the same may not be possible like it’s done for medicines.

Also read: RBI permits trade transactions with Sri Lanka to be settled in INR

Pointing to WHO‘s endorsement of India’s paper on TRIPS waiver, sources said that while the industry had objected to India’s exemptions to nitrile gloves and Remdesivir but the country still went ahead with its decision to enable access to these vital products to its 1.3 billion plus citizens during the pandemic.

Even as clause by clause discussions took place on the issue of fisheries at the WTO last week, India is hoping to get a win-win outcome while factoring in concerns of a majority of its small fishermen who don’t have the capacity to go for deep sea fishing.

Terming per capita fishing in India vis-a-vis other nations as an issue of food security, sources said that the government doesn’t want similar challenges for small fishermen which are being faced in agriculture.

Pointing to issuance of fishing bans by the Centre and states during the monsoon to allow for swarming of fishes as part of sustainable goals, sources stressed on the need for fishing stocks to replenish amidst instances of illegal fishing and depleting fishing stocks.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

RBI permits trade transactions with Sri Lanka to be settled in INR

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In view of difficulties being faced by exporters in getting payments from crisis-hit Sri Lanka, the RBI on Thursday allowed settlement of trade transactions in Indian rupee outside the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism. In March, the government had guaranteed a term loan of USD 1 billion extended by the State Bank of India (SBI) to Sri Lanka for financing purchase of essential goods by the island nation from India.

“In view of the difficulties being experienced by exporters in receipt of export proceeds from Sri Lanka and SBI’s credit facility…it has been decided that such trade transactions with Sri Lanka, falling under the said arrangement, may be settled in INR outside the ACU mechanism,” the RBI said in a circular.

Under the arrangement, financing of export of eligible goods and services from India would be allowed subject conditions and whose purchase may be agreed to be financed by SBI under the agreement.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis has been caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which means the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.

Also read: Sri Lanka economic crisis: Central bank holds key interest rates; reiterates need for more fiscal measures & political stability

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow