India and the EU will meet in New Delhi this September for the next round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks. The 12th round ended in Brussels with offers exchanged on services. India also held strategic discussions with Japan and South Korea to access rare earth processing technologies, aiming to reduce dependency on limited suppliers and diversify global value chains.

BulletsIn

• India-EU FTA 13th round set for Sept 2025 in New Delhi
• Five more chapters closed; 10+ chapters now finalised out of 23
• Monthly talks ongoing; early harvest deal targeted by July 2025
• Key areas: tariffs, IPRs, procurement, SPS, technical barriers
• India objects to EU’s EUDR & CBAM rules; says QCOs apply fairly
• EU flags India’s QCOs as NTBs; India proposes mutual recognition in TBT, SPS
• EU wants patent act tweaks; India rejects evergreening, data exclusivity
• FY24 EU-India goods trade at $137.4 bn; EU top trade partner for India
• India explores rare earth tech tie-ups with Japan, South Korea
• Talks with Chile, Peru underway for rare earth supply chain diversification