印度指责欧盟对自由贸易协定冷淡

 

India blames EU for lukewarm interest in FTA

There is disappointment for India's apparel exporters who have been pushing for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union to regain lost markets.

 Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who chaired a consultation meeting with economists and media observers on 'FTAs & India: The Way Forward', blamed the EU for showing little interest in the trade pact.

 She brushed off suggestions that the government hasn't been proactive enough to clinch the FTA.

 “India has written to EU trade negotiators for dates to resume trade talks, but there has been no response yet,” she said. The Indian communication was sent after the latest India-EU summit in Brussels on March 30.

 One of the sticking points of the FTA has been the EU's insistence that India must agree to lower duties on automobiles as a pre-condition for resuming the stalled trade FTA negotiations. India says that it has the right to protect its domestic auto industry.

But there also seems to be wide divergence in views within the Indian government itself.

Amitabh Kant, CEO Niti Aayog believes India should conclude the EU-India FTA even if it means making some compromises. "It is better to compromise on wine and cheese and on large vehicles to push for our apparel exports with Europe so that we can penetrate these global markets because this is one sector which will enable us to create large-scale jobs," Kant said at the launch of a World Bank report on the textile sector last week.

 

He stressed gains from rising labour costs in China would flow to Vietnam and Bangladesh rather than India, if India was not more flexible in trade negotiations.

 

But Commerce Ministry officials maintain that the negotiations on the proposed India-EU FTA have been delayed due to the uncertainty over 'Brexit', a possibility of Britain leaving the EU.

译文如下：

印度指责欧盟对自由贸易协定冷淡

一直在推动与欧盟间自由贸易协定(FTA)，想要重获失去市场的印度服装出口商感到很失望。

工商部长Nirmala Sitharaman在主持一个经济学家和媒体观察家参加的题为“FTAs和印度：在前进的道路上” 的协商会议上，指责欧盟对贸易协议兴趣冷淡。

她不理会政府不要主动足以达成自由贸易协定的建议。

“印度已经写信给欧盟贸易谈判代表来恢复贸易谈判,但没有反应,”她说。印度的通信是3月30日在布鲁塞尔举行的印度与欧盟最新峰会后送呈的。

自由贸易协定的症结之一,是欧盟坚持,印度必须同意降低汽车关税作为恢复停滞的自由贸易协定谈判的前提。印度说它有权保护国内汽车产业。

但这似乎也在印度政府内部有意见分歧。

首席执行官Amitabh Kant认为印度应该结束欧印自由贸易协定，即使这意味着做一些妥协。“最好可以对葡萄酒，奶酪和大型车辆做出妥协,这将推动我们的服装出口到欧洲,所以我们可以透入这些全球市场,因为这个部门将使我们能够创造大规模的就业机会,” Kant在上周发布的世界银行对纺织行业的一份报告中说。

他强调由于中国的劳动力成本不断上升，收益会逐渐流向越南和孟加拉国而不是印度,如果印度没有在贸易谈判中更灵活的话。

但商务部官员坚持认为,拟议中的印欧有关自由贸易协定的谈判被推迟主要由于Brexit的不确定性,即英国离开欧盟的可能性。