New Foreign Trade Policy by March end, says commerce secretary:

The Union government will launch the new foreign trade policy by the end of this month, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday. The policy for 2022-27, slated to be announced on 30 September lasts year, was deferred in a last-minute change of plans.

The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, which was to end on 31 March 2020, has been extended four times so far: earlier due to the covid-19 pandemic, and more recently due to global economic uncertainties. It is now valid till 31 March 2023.

“The current foreign trade after the extension that we gave six months back will expire on 31st of March and during the six-month period we have been developing a new foreign trade policy. We have looked at different aspects of the foreign trade policy," Barthwal said.

“The policy is basically a collection of various incentive schemes which we have. We are also adding an aspect of visioning exercise into that. We are aiming to achieve $2 trillion in merchandise and services exports. Within that framework, we have developed a foreign trade policy and we are expecting it to be released by the end of the month," Barthwal added.

The new trade policy is expected to have new chapters on e-commerce, districts as export hubs, and SCOMET--dual-use items straddling civilian, industrial and military use--thereby placing a special emphasis on them.

The World Trade Organization has estimated global trade growth to slow down to 1% in 2023 from 3.5% in 2022.

India’s merchandise exports declined nearly 9% in February, the third contraction in the current fiscal, led by a persistent demand slowdown across major markets including the US and the European Union.

Imports also contracted for the third straight month by value, as Indian importers spent less because of easing prices, thus narrowing the trade deficit to the second lowest in the current fiscal.