25 January 2021
Author: Melissa Conley Tyler, University of Melbourne
Negotiations on the Australia–India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) are set to restart after being suspended in 2015. Australia’s new Minister for Trade Dan Tehan has flagged that a trade deal with India will be one of his top priorities.
Why were the original negotiations abandoned? And has anything changed to make a deal more likely now?
There are potential gains for both countries. The original joint feasibility study found significant tariff and non-tariff barriers to goods and services trade. It assessed the potential welfare gains of an agreement as between 0.15–1.1 per cent of GDP for India and 0.23–1.17 per cent of GDP for Australia.