In News
- Recently, the IndAusECTA Agreement, which was signed last year, has come into force after Ratification and Exchange of Written Instruments.
Major Areas of IndAusECTA
- Trade in Goods
- Trade in Services
- Rules of Origin
- Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures
- Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation
- Trade Remedies
- Legal & institutional Issues
- Movement of Natural Persons
Current Trade trends between India and Australia
- Imports:
- India’s imports from Australia amount to 17 US $ billion India’s imports from Australia are primarily (96%) raw materials & intermediate goods.
- They are highly concentrated in Coal (74% of Australia’s exports to India) out of which 71.4% is coking coal.
- Exports:
- India’s exports to Australia amount to 10.5 US $ billion.
- India’s exports to Australia are broad-based and dominated by finished products (consumer goods).
- India also spends $ 4 bn approx. each year on education of students in Australia.
Benefits for India
- Benefits under Trade in Goods:
- Indian goods on all tariff lines to get access to the Australian market with zero customs duty (currently subjected to 5% import duty by Australia).
- Immediate duty-free access covers all labour-intensive sectors such as Textiles and Apparel, Agricultural and Fish products, Leather, Footwear, Furniture, many Engineering Products, Jewelry and select Pharmaceuticals.
- Cheaper Raw Materials, Faster Approval for Medicines
- Immediate Duty-Free Access is projected to potentially create 10 lakh jobs in India and additional exports of $ 10 bn from India to Australia in the next five years.
- India has offered concessions on Tariff lines of export interest to Australia like Coking coal and Thermal coal, Wines, Agricultural products – 7 of them with TRQ (Cotton, Almonds shelled and in shell, Mandarin, Oranges, Lentils, Pear), Metals (Aluminium, Copper, Nickel, Iron & Steel) and Minerals (Manganese Ore, Calcined Alumina).
- Exceptions: Many sensitive products such as milk and other dairy products, wheat, sugar, iron ore, apple, walnuts and others, have been kept in India’s Exclusion list.
- Benefits under Trade in Services:
- Australia has committed its schedule in the negative list and has also made wide-ranging commitments in around 135 sub-sectors with Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status in around 120 sub-sectors.
- India has for the first time agreed to Negative listing after 5 years of coming into force of the Agreement.
- India is also making a commitment to Australia in around 103 Service Sub-Sectors with Most Favoured Nation status in around 31 Service Sub-sectors for the first time.
- The Agreement opens avenues for investment in computer related services, telecom, construction, health & environmental services.
- More than 1 lakh Indian students in Australia will benefit from post-study work visas (18 months – 4 years).
- The Agreement provides for an Annual Quota of 1,800 for Yoga teachers and Indian Chefs.
- It makes an arrangement for Work and Holiday Visas for young professionals.
- Commitments have also been made to pursue Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) in professional services in 12 Months.
- Protective Features to guard against Unintended Consequences:
- The #IndAusECTA also has certain ‘protective features’ aimed at guarding both countries against unintended consequences on trade.
- Stringent Rules of Origin –
- Value Addition of 35% + Change in Tariff Subheading (CTSH)
- In calculation of Value Addition, 2 different values agreed to (35% or 45%) depending on method of calculation (based on whether profit is excluded or included)
- Product Specific Rules negotiated for 807 products
- Requirement of ‘melt and pour’ for iron & steel products included in the Product Specific Rules for these products.
- Strict Operational Customs Procedures
- A specific clause included to ensure only items made in Australia count for value addition, no other country products
- A Bilateral Safeguard Mechanism will be available for 14 years in case of surge in imports:
- A special clause on Review has been agreed upon to enable either country to request a Review for parts of the Agreement which may be a cause of concern, after 15 years
- Review compulsory if requested (it shall happen)
- Must be completed in 6 months
- End to Double Taxation:
- A provision in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) was used to tax this remittance.
- However, the Agreement has removed the discrepancies with regard to use of DTAA for taxation of Indian firm royalties, fees and charges.
- Australia has no domestic provision for charging tax on royalties, fees and charges by firms sending these to parent companies.
- Boost to Economy:
- Exports are expected to increase by 10 billion by 2026-27 with a creation of approximately 10 lakh jobs.
- The total bilateral trade is expected to cross US $ 45-50 billion by 2035.
- The coming into force of the India Australia ECTA is expected to consolidate and help in the growth of market share of Indian products and services.
Way Ahead
- There is a lot of potential for exporting finished goods to Australia, since they hardly manufacture anything, they are largely a raw material and intermediate producing country.
- India can get cheaper raw materials which will not only make India more competitive globally but also enable it to serve Indian consumers better; enabling it to provide more quality goods at more affordable prices
- Ind – Aus ECTA brings together two major economies of the world, – India the 5th largest economy and Australia the 14th largest economy.
- The trade between the two countries is hugely complementary, this offers opportunities on both sides and will pave the way for a win-win solution for both India and Australia.
Source: PIB
