Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal feels that India’s tariffs are misconstrued to be very high whereas the duties on technological items, which are helping the Indian economy grow, are very low.

While stating that the actual applied rates of tariffs are lower than the agreed bound rates at WTO, Goyal said that India-European Union (EU) FTA talks are progressing well with the India-EU Trade & Technology Council supplementing the negotiations.

Even as India engages with the EU on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Goyal added that a further study needs to be undertaken as to how it could impact enterprises on both sides due to an impact on trade and consumers due to an increased price of goods and services.

Goyal is in Europe along with his Cabinet colleagues; External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S Jaishankar and Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) Rajeev Chandrashekar.

The Indian ministers co-chaired a stakeholders' event for Working Groups 1 & 2 as part of the first Ministerial meeting of India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC). The meetings were co-chaired by Executive Vice President of European Commission Margrethe Vestager and European Commissioner Theirry Breton from EU's side.

Also Read:India to examine compatibility of Europe's carbon tariffs with WTO, GATT norms

The event was attended by 18 stakeholders from various sectors of businesses in India as well as the EU. From the Indian side, five stakeholders represented the digital and technology sector (Working Group 1) while three represented clean and green energy technologies (Working Group 2).

The discussions included issues like digital technologies, innovations and disruptions; interoperability for cross border merchant payments, globalisation, enabling of harmonised standards, regulations and policies to enhance digital trade and investment between India and the EU, digital transformation to scale, need to reskill and improve talent, certifications enabling new innovations and technologies engagements on production of green hydrogen, battery systems and recycling, scaling up of charging systems for better access and waste and water management.

During a bilateral meeting with Thierry Breton on TTC's sidelines, Goyal called for deeper engagements between India and EU in digital and the space sector. As Breton informed that the EU is working on a new Digital Services Act, Goyal said that both sides can collaborate further given India's status as an IT giant, citing the presence of the world’s third largest startup ecosystem in India.

First Published:May 17, 2023 9:10 PM IST