New Delhi: India will have a “strong comparative advantage” in the trade deal being negotiated with the United States, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, adding that no farmers’ interests would be compromised in the agreement.
Goyal said that the people of India would “celebrate” once details of the deal are released. The Union commerce minister stressed that India was “focused on protecting” sensitive sectors and getting a comparative advantage in trade agreements in order to export more.
A country’s comparative advantage refers to its ability to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than another producer.
Addressing the 4th 4th ISID-IDRA National Conference on India’s Industrial Transformation, Goyal said, “I have the courage and conviction to announce that the US trade deal, once details are out, the people of India will celebrate that not a single sensitive interest of our farmers or any stakeholder has been compromised. On the contrary, India will stand at a very strong comparative advantage.”
The Union commerce and industry minister said that India, through its trade deals, was not just looking at market access. He said investments and services were also an important part of negotiations.
India has so far announced FTAs with the European Union. United Kingdom, New Zealand, Oman, Australia, United Arab Emirates and Mauritius. New Delhi has also signed the India–EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). This trade agreement is between India and four member states of the European Free Trade Association – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
The India-US trade agreement is in its “last mile”, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said last week while speaking about efforts by the two countries to find common ground on the deal they have negotiated for more than a year. However, Jaishankar added that “it’s never done till it’s done”, while adding that the ‘last mile” often poses challenges.
Goyal also made a veiled reference to the Opposition’s criticism of the trade agreement under negotiation with the US, saying the deal was “sometimes politicised by a few elements.”
“The US free trade agreement is sometimes sought to be politicised by a few elements. I don’t even know whether they deserve any comment because that’s probably a lack of knowledge. Details are not yet fully out. I don’t know what they are criticising,” Goyal said.
The Union minister said he had yet to come across “a single criticism” or flaw in the eight FTAs already negotiated by the Centre. “I dare say, none of the FTAS finalised by the Modi government had found a single criticism or any flaw. I have yet to come across anybody who could find a single flaw in any of the 8 FTAs concluded,” Goyal added.
He said the negotiating teams were working through these, while refusing to elaborate further.
US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who came to India this month for a three-day official visit, have also spoken about the progress in negotiations. When Rubio was on his India visit, Trump said the agreement was “pretty close”, while adding that it “could be a much different kind of deal.” Following his meeting with Jaishankar in Mumbai during his visit, Rubio too made similar remarks.
“I would say we’re about as close as you can be without having an executed agreement. I think there’s a small number of items left to wrap up,” the US Secretary of State said. He said the deal would happen “shortly”, adding, “Hopefully we have some good news to announce fairly soon.”
