Today, November 11, 2022, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted that his parliament ratified the free trade agreement with India, paving the way for strong bilateral trade between the two countries. New Delhi and Canberra will implement the Agreement on a mutually agreed date.
India’s Union Minister Piyush Goyal called it a “landmark” moment for both countries. He said that for the first time in Australia’s history, the country was offering 100 per cent tariff lines with most lines on “entry into force” and 113 lines within a period of 5 years.
“This Free Trade Agreement will create job opportunities. Pharma companies will get a big boost with this,” Goyal said. He added that the deal is crucial for Australia to diversify its export from the troubled Chinese market to India, and to forge new bilateral trade relations.
With this deal, the initial size of bilateral trade between India and Australia can go up to approximately $45-50 billion in the next 5-6 years, Goyal said.
The agreement, once implemented, will provide duty-free access to the Australian market for over 6,000 broad sectors of India, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery.
In April this year, India and Australia signed an interim free trade deal— the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement.
Under the pact, Australia offered zero-duty access to India for about 96.4% of exports (by value) from day one. This includes many products that presently attract 4-5% customs duty in Australia.
Labor-intensive sectors in India which will gain significantly by this deal include textiles and apparel, a few agricultural and fish products, footwear, furniture, jewellery, leather, machinery, electrical goods, sports goods and railway wagons.
India’s goods exports to Australia stood at $8.3 billion, and imports from the country aggregated to $16.75 billion in 2021-22.
Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell said that the quality of ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement), in terms of market access and opportunity for Australian businesses, demonstrates India’s commitment to our bilateral economic partnership.
