India, Chile signs bilateral preferential trade agreement

India and Chile has agreed for expansion of their bilateral preferential trade agreement (PTA). The trade pact was signed in a meeting between Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia and the South American country’s Ambassador to India Andres Barbe Gonzalez on Tuesday, an official statement said.

Under the expanded PTA, both sides are offering to lower or eliminate tariffs on a number of items traded with each other. Chile has offered concessions to India on 1,798 tariff lines with margin of preference (MoP) ranging from 30 percent to 100 percent and India has offered concessions to Chile on 1,031 tariff lines at 8-digit level with MoP ranging from 10 percent to 100 percent, said a Commerce Ministry statement.

India’s export basket with Chile is diversified and keeping in view the wide variety of tariff lines offered by Chile, the expanded PTA would immensely benefit India.

The Indian government said that this expansion would be an important landmark in India-Chile relations and consolidate the traditional fraternal relations that have existed between India and LAC countries.

India’s bilateral trade with Chile stood at $2.64 billion during 2015-16, making it India’s third largest trading partner among the Latin American and Caribbean Nations (LAC) grouping.

Exports to Chile are diverse and consist of yarn of polyester fibres, transport equipment, drugs and pharmaceuticals, among others.

Among major import items from Chile are mineral ores like copper ore and concentrates, iodine, copper anodes, molybdenum ores and concentrates, apart from metal scrap, inorganic chemicals, and pulp and waste paper, it added.

The original PTA was first signed in March 2006, and coming into force with effect from August 2007, with India offering 178 tariff lines to Chile, with the margin of preference ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent. Chile meanwhile offered 296 tariff lines to India with MoP ranging from 10 percent to 100 percent.