Commerce Secretary: India and Brazil Aim to Triple Trade, Set Target of $50 Billion

15 Oct, 2023

Commerce Secretary: India and Brazil Aim to Triple Trade, Set Target of $50 Billion

India and Brazil have set an "ambitious" goal to increase bilateral trade by more than threefold to reach $50 billion by 2030, as stated by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal during his visit to Brasilia from October 1 to 4. The discussions revolved around strategies to enhance trade cooperation between the two nations, where he presided over the sixth meeting of the India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism (TMM). Currently, their bilateral trade volume stands at $15.2 billion.

Barthwal emphasized, "We aim to achieve $30 billion within the next 3-4 years, with a long-term aspirational target of $50 billion by 2030. There is substantial untapped potential for trade growth." Furthermore, the discussions during his visit encompassed topics such as market access challenges and the identification of new areas for collaboration.

Two working groups were established to address market access issues and areas of cooperation, with a particular focus on sectors like biofuels and renewables. Barthwal noted, "Biofuels, including ethanol and biofuel blending, represent significant areas for collaboration." Brazil's advanced technology for ethanol blending with gasoline and diesel is expected to aid in reducing India's reliance on crude oil imports.

Additionally, the two countries agreed to expand their existing preferential trade agreement between India and Mercosur, a Latin American trading bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Currently, the agreement encompasses 452 tariff lines, and both sides are in agreement to extend it to encompass all tariff lines where trade activities occur.

During a media briefing, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi revealed that the sixth round of negotiations for the India-European Union free trade agreement is scheduled for October 16-20 in Brussels. Furthermore, discussions on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) will take place during the sixth round in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from October 15-24.

The IPEF is organized around four pillars that pertain to trade, supply chains, a clean economy, and a fair economy (addressing issues such as taxation and anti-corruption). India is actively engaged in all these pillars except for the trade-related one. The IPEF includes member nations like Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam. The sixth round of negotiations seeks to make substantial progress and anticipates finalizing discussions during a ministerial meeting scheduled for November 13-14 in San Francisco. The IPEF was jointly launched by the United States and partner countries from the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 of the previous year in Tokyo.