Duty-free trade to give Panipat smoother stitch into UK market

As the bilateral Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) begins a new chapter in India-United Kingdom ties, Panipat-based industry stakeholders, especially exporters, are welcoming the free trade agreement with great zeal and enthusiasm.Panipat exporters will now get duty-free access to UK markets, and an upper hand over exporters of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. Presently, Panipat conducts around Rs 400-crore export business with the UK annually.Now, as the agreement comes into effect, exporters opine that business could double in the coming years.What does the India-UK FTA entail?The CETA between India and the United Kingdom was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, on July 24.It provides duty-free access for 99 per cent of India’s exports to the UK, covering nearly 100 per cent of the trade value.This means that textiles, leather, marine products, gems and jewellery, toys, engineering goods, chemicals, agriculture products, and auto components will now enter the UK market at zero duty costs.How significant is Panipat’s export business?Panipat is globally known as the ‘Textile City’, and its textile industry has an annual turnover of over Rs 50,000 crore. Exports account for about Rs 20,000 crore of this turnover. Handloom products such as cushions, blankets, bedsheets, bed-covers, and bath mats are exported from Panipat to various areas across the globe, including the US, UK, Japan, Australia, and Europe.What does the FTA mean for Panipat?Exporter Vinod Dhamija, chairman, Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Panipat chapter, said the UK was considered a good and stable market globally.The FTA, for Panipat-based exporters, would mean more business in the stable market, he added.How much duty charges were earlier levied on textile products?Lalit Goyal, Chairman, Handloom Exports Promotion Council, and president, Panipat Exporters’ Association, said, earlier, duty charges of 9-12 per cent were levied on textile and handloom products exported from India — which would now be zero.How will the deal impact India’s competitiveness in the UK market?In the UK market, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Cambodia were the main competitors for Panipat’s exporters as these countries already had duty-free access to the market.Now, as the pact enables Indian exporters to access the market duty-free, it will increase India’s competitiveness in the UK market.

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