Even though the following round of talks will take place in India next month, the Canadian government has reiterated its commitment to an interim trade agreement with India.
Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business, and Economic Development, and Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, had a virtual conversation on Friday, according to a statement from Global Affairs Canada she “reaffirmed Canada’s goal of maintaining momentum in the fourth round of negotiations, which are scheduled to take place in September”.
In order to reach a settlement, these discussions are intended to secure an Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA), a stopgap measure until a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) can be negotiated. A “working text” might be available by October, according to a senior Indian official familiar with the deliberations.
The two ministers are most likely to get together during the September 21–23 G20 Trade Ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
When Ng visited New Delhi in March and met with Goyal for a ministerial conversation on trade and investment on March 11, India and Canada resolved to take the interim agreement into consideration.
India accounted for 4.97 billion Canadian dollars in imports in 2020, while the country’s exports totaled 3.71 billion Canadian dollars. The two countries’ main commerce consisted of purchases of textiles and consumer goods from India and exports of metal ores, non-metallic items, and energy products from Canada. The nation’s stated trade objective is to surpass CA$ 10 billion.
