Canada has huge trade opportunity for Indian exporters: Report

Of the USD 453 billion import opportunity, Indian exports to Canada stood at a meagre USD 2.9 billion in 2019, while imports by the north American country from India were 0.6 per cent. The paltry numbers are important as the two nations are negotiating a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) and a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement.

Canada has an overall annual import bill of over USD 450 billion, which offers a huge trade opportunity for Indian exporters, according to a report. Of the USD 453 billion import opportunity, Indian exports to Canada stood at a meagre USD 2.9 billion in 2019, while imports by the north American country from India were 0.6 per cent.

The paltry numbers are important as the two nations are negotiating a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) and a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement. In 2019, India exported USD 2.89 billion worth of merchandise products to Canada, which grew annually at 11 per cent between 2015 and 2019. However, Canada had a share of under 1 per cent in India's merchandise exports, while India's share stood at 0.6 per cent of USD 453 billion, said the report by the World Trade Centre, Mumbai.

The low numbers are in spite of the complementarities and competitive advantages that both the nations share. Sourcing data from the database of the International Trade Centre, the WTC report said top-20 export items to Canada constituted about 37 per cent of India's merchandise exports to Canada.

These products include medicaments consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes, semi-milled or wholly milled rice, plastics articles parts and accessories for tractors and medium motor vehicles, among others. Canadian imports of these products have grown annually at over 5 per cent between 2015 and 2019.