Trade Update – 29nd July 2021: Australia Dispatches Abbott To India, Apec Business Leaders Meet, India Moves Toward High Value-add and many more…

AUSTRALIA DISPATCHES ABBOTT TO INDIA: Australia is sending former Prime Minister Tony Abbott to India to boost bilateral trade and economic links. The visit will be under the umbrella of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Nine rounds of bilateral FTA negotiations were held between 2011 and 2015.

APEC BUSINESS LEADERS MEET: The APEC Business Advisory Council has met for the third time this year as it seeks to finalize its priorities for the APEC Leaders’ Summit in November.  Council chair Rachel Taulelei said a collective response to the pandemic was the most critical priority facing the Asia Pacific region.

INDIA MOVES TOWARD HIGH VALUE-ADD: Commerce Minister Goyal believes India is now moving beyond a “low-cost service provider” to a “high value-add partner” as its services exports continue to grow. Service exports from India were worth $205 billion in 2020-21, 12 times higher than 20 years earlier.

AUSTRALIA & TAIWAN TALK ENERGY: Australia and Taiwan held a hydrogen trade and investment dialogue during the week. Trade Minister Tehan and Economic Minister Wang participated. They agreed to continue working to promote trade and investment opportunities in low emission technologies.

UK BELIEVES NEW ZEALAND FTA CLOSE: UK Trade Secretary Truss has reported “great progress” was made during a 6th round of UK-NZ FTA talks. Writing subsequently in The Daily Express, she said the UK and NZ were now close to an agreement which would be one of the most advanced struck by any nation.

MALAYSIAN SILICON FACES ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES: The US will soon impose anti-dumping duties on silicon metal from Malaysia. This follows a finding by the US International Trade Commission that the imports had caused material injury to US industry. An anti-dumping duty of 12.27% will be applied.

LAO PDR TO BECOME WTO FIRST: The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is preparing to become the first least developed economy to join the WTO’s information technology agreements. It is seeking to complete the process by the end of 2021. Lao is looking to its participation to attract foreign investment.

WTO WARNS OF TRADE RISK WITHOUT WIDER VACCINE ACCESS: The World Trade Organization this week published a mid-year report calling on economies to ensure markets remain open. It also warns that failing to ensure wider access to COVID-19 vaccines could undermine global economic and trade recovery.

US PLANS AFRICAN TRADE SUMMIT: USTR Tai plans to host a US-Africa Trade Summit this year in a bid to strengthen trade. She told a US-Africa Business Summit during the week that she had hoped the summit would be an in-person ministerial event, but the COVID-19 pandemic meant it would be held virtually.

SOUTH KOREA & ASEAN TO UPGRADE FTA: The ASEAN-Korea FTA Implementing Committee met virtually last week to explore ways of upgrading the ASEAN-Korea FTA. The trade partners agreed five years ago to further reduce trade barriers but postponed action in order to focus on concluding RCEP negotiations.