GHY Tradelines

(IndustryWeek – AFP)

Visiting Premier Li Keqiang promised Tuesday to open China’s vast domestic market wider to India and forge a “dynamic trade balance” to deepen economic ties and ease tensions between the Asian giants.

The trade push, which the countries say will supply “new engines” to lift the stumbling global economy, came amid efforts by the nuclear-armed powers to put a military dispute along their contested Himalayan border behind them.

“We have the ability to mitigate the trade imbalance between our two countries,” Li told business leaders in New Delhi, responding to Indian worries over trade that is heavily skewed in China’s favor. “The Chinese side is willing to provide facilitation for more Indian products to access the Chinese market,” added Li, who chose to make India his first foreign stop after taking office two months ago. Read more here.
 

(Danielle Goldfarb – Globe & Mail)

Wayne Gretzky famously described how he was taught to “skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” Gretzky – to many, Canada’s greatest export – was talking about hockey, but the same principle applies to Canada’s trade. Many Canadian companies are still skating to where the puck has been, and missing many of the places where it is going.

India, for example, accounts for less than 1 per cent of Canada’s trade and investment, according to official estimates. Yet, India accounts for 7 per cent of the world economy today. It is expected to rise to 11 per cent by 2030 and to 18 per cent – almost one-fifth – of the world economy by 2060, according to OECD estimates. […]

A new Conference Board study, “The Hottest Markets for Canadian Companies in India,” finds many fast-growing, sizable, profitable, dynamic sectors. But despite two decades of economic reform, much of India’s economy remains relatively closed to foreign activity. So the study’s final list of hottest markets includes only those fast-growth sectors that are relatively open to Canadian business. Read more here.
 

(Lynne Taylor – Pharma Times)

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) says it is “dismayed” at the response of the US Trade Representative (USTR)’s latest annual report on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection to the “deteriorating protections for patented medicines” in India.

The USTR’s latest Special 301 Report, which assesses the adequacy and effectiveness of US trading partners’ protection and enforcement of IPR and of market access, is critical of India and retains it on its Priority Watch List. In 2012, India made “limited progress in improving its weak IPR legal framework and enforcement system,” it says, but adds that recent actions by the government “have raised serious questions about the innovation climate in India and risk hindering the country’s progress towards an innovation-focused economy.” Read more here.
 

(UPI)

India has filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement body, saying that the United States is offering subsidy programs in the solar industry for local content requirements.

The action, reported by India’s Business Standard newspaper, follows a complaint launched by the United States in February with the WTO regarding India’s National Solar Mission, specifically India’s photovoltaic domestic content requirements policy, which the United States says is discriminatory against U.S. solar manufacturers.

PV Tech reports that the India’s domestic content requirement applies only to crystalline silicon-based modules and thin film is exempt. However, this has resulted in companies importing thin-film technologies to the detriment of its domestic module manufacturers. Read more here.
 

(Business Line)

Crucial talks between India and the European Union on their proposed free trade agreement (FTA) get under way here amid new optimism that a deal could be reached before the end of this year.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma is scheduled to meet EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht and other top officials later in the day in an attempt to take forward the six-year long negotiations.

The talks are currently bogged down in disputes over EU demands to raise the equity cap on FDI in India’s insurance sector, reducing the tariffs on import of automobiles, protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and other issues.  Read more here.
 

(NY Daily News)

Trade and investment talks between India and the European Union (EU) could be in limbo for years, if not concluded in 2013, as the 27-nation grouping is likely to shift its focus to a trade deal with the U.S.

Negotiators have missed several deadlines to conclude the deal that aims to boost trade and investment flows by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers. India and the EU started negotiations for a broad-based trade and investment agreement in 2007. The progress on the talks is stalled by disagreements on issues like import duties on automobiles, pharma and alcoholic products, and trade in services and intellectual property rights. Read more here.
 

(AP)

American businesses complained to lawmakers Wednesday about Indian trade protectionism, contending that tariff and regulatory barriers are shutting out foreign firms despite the nation’s market-opening reforms.

Advocates for the pharmaceutical, information technology and agricultural industries detailed their grievances to a House subcommittee on trade where lawmakers also grumbled about Indian policies that favor local producers.

“They are for free trade on their terms,” said Democrat Rep. Richard Neal.

There’s strong bipartisan support for deeper U.S.-India ties, which have been pushed by the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and trade has grown markedly in the past decade and is approaching the $100 billion mark. But experts say that total is small, considering the size of the two economies. Read more here.
 

(Toronto Star)

China and India will be vital destinations for Canadian exports in 2030, according to a forecast on trade released Monday. Though the U.S. will remain Canada’s top trading partner, emerging markets are becoming crucial, the latest HSBC Global Connections Trade Forecast said.

“The surprise is just how quickly companies are embracing the move towards being more international and being less reliant on the U.S., and how fast some of these individual trade corridors are growing,’ said Ben Arber, head of global trade and receivables finance, HSBC Bank Canada.

In 2011, the top five markets for Canadian exports were, in order, the U.S., the U.K., China, Japan and Mexico. China became Canada’s second-largest trading partner last year, Arber pointed out. The value of Canadian goods exported to China reached $19.3 billion last year, ahead of the $18.6 billion worth of goods shipped to the U.K., according to figures compiled by Industry Canada. Read more here.
 

(RTTNews)

India’s economy is set to expand in the range of 6.1% to 6.7% in 2013-14 as the downturn is more or less over and the economy is looking up, according to the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.

For the fiscal ending March 2013, economic growth is estimated to decelerate to 5%.

The government will give priority to curb high inflation, the report said. The wholesale price inflation is expected to slow to 6.2-6.6% by March this fiscal. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

APL will increase rates on all containers in its trade from India to Canada and the U.S., excluding Puerto Rico, effective March 15.

The increase will be $320 per 20-foot container, $400 per 40-foot container, $450 per 40-foot high-cube container, $505 per 45-foot container, $575 per 48-foot container and $640 per 53-foot container.

The hike applies to both tariff and service contract rates, as well as flat rack, open top, tank and all other types of special equipment.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

The Port of Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva) is at a standstill as dockworkers at India’s largest container gateway take part in a nationwide 48-hour general strike.

“All the three container terminals in the port are simply idling. There is no movement in the harbor, including loading or offloading intermodal trains,” a port official said.

Nearly 60% of India’s total containerized export and import cargo moves through Nhava Sheva. Officials said several ships are stranded at the outer anchorage for berth, and many more are scheduled to arrive. Read more here.
 

(Bridges Trade)

The US has filed a formal challenge at the WTO regarding India’s support policies for solar energy, Washington officials announced last week. At issue in the complaint is a local content requirement in the Asian country’s national solar programme, which Washington claims discriminates against foreign solar equipment manufacturers in favour of their domestic counterparts.

The challenge comes amid growing questions over the degree to which countries can help support their burgeoning renewable energy sectors, particularly given the global trade arbiter’s recent panel ruling regarding a similar programme in the Canadian province of Ontario. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations agricultural specialists at the Port of Baltimore discovered on Feb. 7 that a shipment of celery seed from India was infested with dead Khapra beetles.

The specialists immediately collected specimens of the dead insects and sealed the container. The specimens were forwarded to a U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist who confirmed them as Khapra beetles, one of the world’s most destructive insect pests of grains, cereals and stored foods. It is the only insect that Customs takes regulatory action against even while in a dead state. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

Ocean carriers calling at Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal in India’s Port of Cochin announced plans to implement a “trade surcharge” to compensate for loss of business in the wake of an indefinite strike by container trailer drivers. Unionized drivers walked off the job Feb. 4, calling for wage increases and additional benefits.

“The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that ship operators are left with no other alternative but to impose a cost-recovery surcharge,” a feeder line representative at Cochin said. He said feeder operators between Cochin and the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, would start levying a surcharge of $100 per 20-foot-equivalent unit until further notice. A trade notice is expected to be issued shortly. Read more here.
 

(INDOlink)

The United States has filed a case at the World Trade Organization challenging domestic content requirements for India’s national solar programme as a violation of global trade rules, U.S. trade officials said on Wednesday.

“Let me be clear: the United States strongly supports the rapid deployment of solar energy around the world, including with India,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement announcing the request for consultations with India, which is the first step in bringing a WTO dispute.

“Unfortunately, India’s discriminatory policies in its national solar program detract from that successful cooperation, raise the cost of clean energy, and undermine progress toward our shared objective,” he said.
 

(DFAIT)

Canada-India trade agreement an important part of the Harper government’s plan to open new markets and create jobs

The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, announced the conclusion of the seventh round of negotiations toward a Canada-India comprehensive economic partnership agreement. Negotiations took place in New Delhi on February 5 and 6, 2013.

“Our government is committed to building on our already-strong ties with India to create a partnership that will lead to jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for workers in both our countries,” said Minister Fast. “More than a million Canadians of Indian origin is clear proof of how both business and people-to-people ties are helping us deepen the Canada-India relationship.”

Negotiations this week were productive and focused mostly on market access and related areas.

A Canada-India joint study concluded that a trade agreement between the two countries could boost Canada’s economy by at least $6 billion. That translates to almost 40,000 new jobs across the country, or a $500 boost to the average Canadian family’s annual income. Canada has identified core economic opportunities in India in the energy, agriculture, infrastructure and education sectors.

In less than six years, Canada has concluded free trade agreements with nine countries: Colombia, Honduras, Jordan, Panama, Peru and the European Free Trade Association member states of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. In addition to India, Canada is engaged in negotiations with large, dynamic and fast-growing markets, such as the European Union, Japan and the countries that comprise the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
 

(Times of India)

Warning Indian exporters against using illegal software, American Chamber of Commerce in India (AmCham India) said failure to comply with the U.S. Unfair Competition Act could lead to loss of access to the lucrative U.S. markets.

Some states in the U.S. have a legislation under which companies are not allowed to sell products manufactured using stolen or misappropriated IT as it is deemed to be engaging in unfair competition.

“The U.S. law against ‘unfair competition’ aims to combat unfair trade practices in manufacturing by preventing usage of illegal or stolen IT (hardware and software), which in turn provides an unfair economic advantage in the market place,” AmCham India Chairman Ajay Singha told PTI.

The statement comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Kamala D Harris against an Indian apparel company – Pratibha Syntex and another Chinese firm. The lawsuit alleged that not all licences procured in these companies are legal and genuine, including products manufactured by Adobe, Microsoft, Symantec and others. Read more here.
 

(Jakarta Post – Linda Yulisman)

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) concluded a long-bargained free trade agreement (FTA) with India on services and investment on Wednesday ahead of a two-day commemorative summit in New Delhi, India.

“The agreement will be able to significantly boost economic activities between India and ASEAN, as well as [those] between India and Indonesia,” Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said in an SMS after the agreement was reached.

The FTA would also pave the way for discussions on a regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) that ASEAN plan to seal with its six key trade partners, which includes India, Gita added. The new agreement will add to the FTA on goods between ASEAN and India, said to have created one of the world’s biggest free trade areas with a market of around 1.8 billion people and a combined gross domestic product of US$2.8 trillion. Read more here.
 

(CBC News – Terry Milewski)

After a slow-moving summit with his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wednesday told a business conference in New Delhi that trade ties between India and Canada are not developing fast enough.

Seeming frustrated by the modest achievements of his visit – which produced some incremental, sector-by-sector agreements but not the hoped-for Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement – Harper said the “untapped economic potential between us is massive and undeniable.” However, he added tartly, “massive and undeniable as that potential is, it will not develop itself.”

“It will take concerted efforts by both of our countries to reap all of the benefits that this relationship can yield.”

Harper said the limited gains so far were welcome, but not nearly enough. “I acknowledge that there has been progress. The Social Security Agreement is finally done. So too, at last, is the administrative arrangement to complete our Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. Our foreign investment negotiations have come much of the way.” However, he added, “We have to be serious about getting them over the finish line.” Read more here.
 

(Reuters)

Canadian firms will soon be able export uranium and nuclear reactors to India for the first time in almost four decades, as the result of an agreement reached between the two countries, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday.

He did not give a timeline for when the deal would be implemented.

Speaking during a visit to India, Harper also said Canada welcomed foreign investment, after Canada temporarily blocked Malaysian state oil firm Petronas’ C$5.17 billion ($5.17 billion) bid for gas producer Progress Energy Resources on October 20.