Commerce deal stymied by political tensions may very well be reached rapidly as soon as talks resume
Article content material
A possible commerce deal between Canada and India will “take only a couple of months” to conclude as soon as the 2 nations resume discussions after political tensions stalled issues in current months, says India’s Excessive Commissioner to Canada.
However Sanjay Kumar Verma couldn’t say when these talks would resume.
Article content material
“Whenever there is a decision to un-pause — I cannot predict — by the Canadian side, it will take only a couple of months to reach the conclusion,” he mentioned at a press convention on Nov. 10. “Difficult to give a timeline, because in international politics, there are so many incidents happening all the time, but certainly a willingness is there to resolve the issue.”
Commercial 2
Article content material
Canada and India have been engaged on a commerce deal since 2010, however discussions picked up final yr when Commerce Minister Mary Ng visited India and the nations held a number of rounds of discussions.
Enterprise leaders anticipated the nations to signal an early progress commerce settlement (EPTA) by year-end. An EPTA is taken into account a smaller model of the extra complete financial partnership settlement that Canada ultimately needs to signal.
Verma mentioned the issues that should be resolved below EPTA are “very few.”
However commerce deal talks had been paused in September after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned Canada would pursue allegations of a possible hyperlink between India’s authorities and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who headed the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, outdoors a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C.
India’s authorities strongly rejected Trudeau’s allegations, which was adopted by diplomats being expelled from either side.
Verma mentioned commerce relations between the 2 nations didn’t “suffer a lot,” and neither facet has “expressed any wish to deter” commerce. Canada-India bilateral commerce in items was nearly $12 billion in 2022, a 57 per cent enhance over 2021, however he mentioned India’s exports to Canada fell by seven per cent between January and September this yr and its imports from Canada fell by two per cent.
Prime Tales
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
He added that he hasn’t heard of a single case of an investor withdrawing funding from India since Trudeau made his announcement.
“The (Indian government) is very clear that business has to be done and that is why you see we resumed our visa services after about a month and five days,” Verma mentioned. “Business visa is one of the categories which has been relaxed.”
He mentioned the 2 governments are in talks “at more professional and technical levels” to resolve the problems between the nations and he sees “convergence happening,” however there’s nonetheless work to be completed.
Companies in Canada don’t essentially want a cope with India to speculate there, however a commerce settlement gives reassurance that there are a algorithm that each nations will comply with, companies say.
However Victor Thomas, chief government of the Canada-India Enterprise Council, mentioned talks on such an settlement are unlikely to occur any time quickly.
“Given everything that’s going on, I don’t foresee any significant trade talks happening imminently,” he mentioned on the press convention on Friday. “I have been telling my members to not expect anything right now.”
Commercial 4
Article content material
However Thomas mentioned it was a “big deal” to see each nations not inserting any sanctions on one another and saying that enterprise ought to proceed regardless of being “in the midst of not agreeing on a lot.”
Associated Tales
Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark, who was additionally on the press convention, mentioned she expects Canada to endure, not India, as a result of delay in a trade agreement.
“The products that we produce are high value, high quality, but not impossible for India to find elsewhere in the world,” she mentioned. “This is an opportunity for Canada to be a part of India’s explosive growth. We don’t want to be the country that’s sitting it out while others are able to take part.”
She urged the 2 nations to “lower the temperature” and get a deal completed. She additionally mentioned it’s vital for Canada’s premiers to work immediately with India’s chief ministers to spice up commerce.
• E-mail: [email protected]
Bookmark our web site and assist our journalism: Don’t miss the enterprise information you have to know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and join our newsletters here.
Article content material
Feedback
Postmedia is dedicated to sustaining a full of life however civil discussion board for dialogue and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Feedback could take as much as an hour for moderation earlier than showing on the positioning. We ask you to maintain your feedback related and respectful. We now have enabled e mail notifications—you’ll now obtain an e mail for those who obtain a reply to your remark, there may be an replace to a remark thread you comply with or if a consumer you comply with feedback. Go to our Community Guidelines for extra data and particulars on the right way to alter your email settings.