India, EU trade pact talks in fast lane: Goyal

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal Tuesday said trade talks with the EU on a proposed free trade agreement are progressing fast and both sides would be in a position to “substantially conclude” the pact by the time EU trade and agriculture commissioners visit India. Almost 60-65% of the chapters are now completed and finalised, he said.

The 13th round of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA) are ongoing in the Indian capital. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen are likely to land in New Delhi this week. Sefcovic is expected to meet Goyal on Friday.

Both sides are working very actively to converge on different parts of the agreement, Goyal said on the sidelines of an event organised by the Indian Steel Association.
“By the time my counterparts Maros Sefcovic, the EU Trade Commissioner and EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe come to India, I think we will be quite set to try and conclude the agreement substantially,” Goyal said.

“We are also trying to find innovative ways to address the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) story,” he said while addressing the event.

The EU has announced to impose carbon tax on carbon emitting sectors like metals and fertilisers.Steel sector slammedGoyal slammed the domestic industry saying that it often rushes to import cheaper material at the “slightest opportunity”, instead of supporting domestic companies.

He said the spirit of supporting each other must be inculcated across the value chain, starting with the steel industry, if it wants others to emulate.

Criticising the domestic steel sector for failing to back local metallurgical coke (met coke) producers, he warned that such neglect undermines India’s push for self-reliance and urged the industry to re-examine its export-import practices if it wanted others to follow its example. “Perhaps you deserved the safeguard duty a few months before it was finally imposed. But when the met coke industry needed protection, I didn’t get support from the steel sector. For the sake of saving a few dollars, you chose to import met coke and brought the domestic industry to its knees and nearly killed it,” Goyal said.

He pointed out that the industry had failed to consider the long-term risks in their actions. “Once there are no domestic suppliers left, you’ll be at the mercy of foreign companies who could charge an arm and a leg and you would pay,” Goyal cautioned.

Citing recent problems being faced by the world due to restrictions imposed on rare earth permanent magnet exports, the commerce minister said it almost brought the entire auto industry to its knees.