Canada pauses trade pact talks with India: Government official

Ahead of the G20 Summit meeting in New Delhi next week, Canada has paused the talks with India for a trade agreement. Commerce and industry ministry officials said that the move would enable the two sides to take stock of progress and they will decide by mutual agreement when negotiations would resume.

The negotiations for a bilateral trade deal
resumed in March 2022, after a five-year hiatus. Termed India-Canada Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA), the pact will cover goods, services, investment, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement.


“The Canadian side conveyed that they are taking a pause in India-Canada negotiations on Early Progress Trade Agreement,” said an official in the know of the details.

The EPTA is a prelude to a full fledged free trade agreement.

India-Canada bilateral trade in goods reached about $8.2 billion in 2022, registering about 25% growth compared to 2021.

“This will enable us both to take stock of progress and next steps,” the official said, adding that the two would decide by mutual agreement when the negotiations will resume.

As per sources, the two sides have been unable to reach a landing zone on issues such rules of origin and some tariffs.

“After Asean, India is keen to have clear and strict rules of origin and many countries have concerns about it,” said a trade expert.

Besides Canada, India is negotiating trade agreements with the UK and the EU, and expanding its early harvest trade pact with Australia into a larger FTA.