India and Mexico Formalize Trade Negotiations

India and Mexico have launched negotiations for a preferential trade agreement (PTA) after signing the terms of reference (ToR) for the proposed deal, the Department of Commerce said on Wednesday. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal and Mexico's Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Luis Rosendo Gutierrez Romano formalised the negotiations during Agrawal's two-day official visit to Mexico City.

“The signing formally launches negotiations for a mutually beneficial and balanced PTA, with the potential to expand bilateral trade, create business opportunities, enhance investment flows and contribute to resilient and diversified supply chains,” the department said in a press release.  The signing of the ToR and launch of negotiations were part of Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal’s two-day visit to Mexico City, which began on Tuesday.

The ToR for a trade agreement serves as a formal roadmap setting out the boundaries, objectives, scope and rules before official negotiations begin. The India-Mexico ToR covers key negotiating areas, including market access for goods, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, dispute settlement, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and trade remedies.