By Admin 
India New Zealand Free Trade Agreement: Amidst the pressure of American high tariffs, India has started trying to melt the frozen ice with China and rebalance the trade relations, so that dependence on the American market can be reduced and the markets of China, Russia and other countries can be shifted towards. However, recent reports indicate that despite this initiative, India’s trade deficit with China has already increased, as India’s imports from China are increasing rapidly while India’s exports remain relatively weak.
How will China’s concern increase?
Meanwhile, an important report by the economic research institute Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has made it clear that India has a big opportunity to raise China’s concerns and challenge its global hold, especially in a market like New Zealand. According to the report, in the year 2024-25, New Zealand imported more than US $ 10 billion from China, while only US $ 711 million worth of goods were purchased from India, while New Zealand’s total imports were about US $ 50 billion.
GTRI says that under the proposed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), there are huge opportunities for Indian exporters to establish their strong presence in many sectors like agricultural and processed foods, petroleum products, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals and health services, textiles and apparel, electronic and electrical equipment, motor vehicles, transport equipment, aeronautics, high value manufacturing and furniture.
According to Ajay Srivastava, founder of GTRI, there are many sectors where Chinese competition is almost negligible, yet India’s exports are limited to only between US$100,000 and 50 million, which shows that this market is not locked by any established supplier, but has remained largely untouched till now.
How will the air come out of China?
For example, India is among the world’s largest exporters of refined petroleum products, with global exports worth US$69.2 billion, while New Zealand imports about US$6.1 billion worth of petroleum products every year, but imports only US$2.3 million from India, while China supplies US$181 million. In such a situation, experts believe that the real challenge for India is to combine FTA with targeted export promotion, standard cooperation, regulatory simplicity and better logistics support, so that it can reduce China’s dependence in markets like New Zealand and strengthen its position in global trade.