Textiles and clothing are among the sectors that have been granted duty-free access to the Australian market under the free trade agreement signed between India and Australia.
The agreement concluded much earlier and needed ratification by the Australian parliament. The Australian Parliament approved the free trade agreement inked with India in April, which would pave the way for the pact’s rollout on a mutually agreed date of January 2023. Concessions given by both countries are expected to double two-way trade to 450 billion in five years.
The agreement, signed on April 2, would provide duty-free access to Indian exporters of over 6,000 broad sectors including textiles, leather, furniture, jewelry, and machinery in the Australian market. It would be a boost to the Indian Textiles and clothing that earlier were subjected to import tariffs.
In fact, the Australians have granted concessions to all labor-intensive sectors of which the apparel sector is highly labor intensive and it would immensely gain along with other textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, a few agricultural and fish products, sports goods, jewelry, machinery, and electrical goods.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal disclosed that Australia will open 100 percent of its lines (products) with no restriction on items that come under the quota regime. He said India is the first country that was given such market access to the Australian market.
