FTAs making India more competitive against markets like USA, China, Brazil

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are making India more competitive with markets like the United States of America, China and Brazil, said an official of the Commerce Ministry.

According to APEDA, in processed food, India will gain ground over the USA, China, and Thailand. We will become more competitive than the USA, China, Thailand, and Vietnam in bakery items, said an official.

With fresh grapes, India will gain a competitive advantage over Brazil, and we will match the top exporters like Egypt and South Africa.

Similarly, in preserved vegetables like fruits and nuts, we will be competitive against Turkey, Pakistan, South Africa and China.

Meanwhile, in fresh and chilled vegetables, we will be more competitive with the US, Brazil, Thailand, and China. For sauces and prepared sauces, we will have a competitive advantage and a better position against the USA, Japan, China, Thailand, and Malaysia.

According to the Commerce Ministry, India's exports of goods and services hit an all-time high of USD 825 billion in 2024-25, driven by a record surge in service shipments, which reached USD 386.5 billion in the last fiscal year despite global trade headwinds.

The government is looking to touch USD 1 billion in exports from the Indian Alcobev industry by 2030.

"Opening AlcoBev and the Auto market for the UK is a pragmatic approach. After taking all factors into consideration, we have concluded that this will not hurt the Indian industry," said an official of the Commerce Ministry.

Indian exporters now want more access in the UK and are very excited because "our own whiskeys, our spirits, our gins are becoming very hot export products," the official added.

India imports whiskey worth around USD 500-600 million annually.

The official said that FTA with UK is a "totally job-oriented deal." The trade between India-UK will not only double by 2030, it will create millions of jobs and increase our overall exports to UK.

According to a report by the Bank of Baroda, the recently concluded Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the United Kingdom is expected to benefit both nations economically and could also pave the way for similar agreements with other countries, such as the United States and the European Union.

The report stated, "While UK per se is not a very significant trading partner for India, this paves the way for similar agreements with other countries like USA and EU and hence, augurs well for India."
India has inked trade deals with Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Australia, the UAE, Mauritius, the 10-nation bloc ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and the four European nations' bloc EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).

In addition, India is negotiating trade agreements at present with a number of its trading partners. The negotiations are underway with the US, Oman, the European Union (EU), Peru, and Israel.

Talks with Canada for a similar pact were put on hold due to certain political issues.

A free trade agreement is an arrangement between two or more countries where they agree either to end or reduce customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides cutting down non-trade barriers on a significant value of imports from partner countries and easing norms to promote services exports and bilateral investments.

India and the UK have successfully concluded an ambitious and mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement (FTA), along with a Double Contribution Convention in a historic deal that will open up massive export opportunities for many labour-intensive sectors in India.