Piyush Goyal, Maninder Sidhu Push for Early India-Canada CEPA Deal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said he had a productive meeting with Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade, Canada, here on advancing the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Both sides reaffirmed “our leadership's commitment to expedite negotiations and conclude CEPA at the earliest, unlocking new opportunities across trade in goods, services, and investment, among others,” Goyal posted on X.

The minister further stated he is confident that an early conclusion of India-Canada CEPA will help realise our shared vision of significantly increasing bilateral trade and deepening the India-Canada economic partnership for mutual benefit. This week, India and Canada began their fourth round of talks in the national capital for the proposed CEPA as the two countries aim to seal the deal by the end of this year. The issues that figured in the five-day talks included trade in goods, services, rules of origin, and technical trade barriers.

The round followed the third round, which was held in Ottawa in July. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian PM Mark Carney set a year-end target to complete the negotiations for the CEPA between the two countries and agreed to deepen bilateral collaboration in the energy and critical mineral sectors during their meeting in New Delhi in March this year. India-Canada bilateral trade in goods stood at $8.66 billion in 2024-25, while India’s exports to the country touched $4.22 billion.

Major items of India’s exports to Canada include pharmaceutical products, machinery parts and mechanical appliances, iron and steel articles, electronic goods, organic chemicals, jewellery, gems and precious stones, garments and textiles, seafood, engineering goods and auto parts. India’s major imports from Canada include pulses, fertilisers, mineral fuels, wood pulp, gems & precious stones, aircraft parts, machinery parts, and iron and aluminium scrap. India’s IT sector is the main contributor to services exports to Canada.

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