India, ASEAN Countries Begin Free Trade
5 January 2010 NEW DELHI — Friday will mark the beginning of the India-ASEAN free trade agreement established in August by 11 countries.
The deal will allow India to enjoy duty-free import and export of as many as 4,000 products ranging from steel to apparel to sugar and tobacco over a period of eight years with the 10 countries that make up the Association of South East Asian Nations.
India’s recently published rules allow companies to qualify for preferential tax treatment if their products have more than 35 percent of local materials. The pact also eliminates duties on 80 per cent of goods traded between the two regions by 2016.
India has included 489 items from agriculture, textiles and chemicals that will not qualify for tariff reductions.
Get The Newsletter Today!
