India’s free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand comes into force on Tuesday, giving Indian goods duty-free access across the country’s market and opening new opportunities for students and skilled professionals. However, the immediate boost to merchandise exports could be modest, with services and professional mobility emerging as potentially bigger gains, according to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).
New Zealand will eliminate import duties on all Indian goods from October 20, benefiting exporters of textiles, garments, leather, carpets, ceramics, engineering goods and automotive components. Yet 58.3% of New Zealand’s tariff lines were already duty-free, limiting the additional advantage for many Indian exporters.
