New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) Newly appointed CII President Rajiv Memani on Thursday underlined the need for a "balanced and reasonable" free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the US in the initial phase, saying the tricky areas having political ramifications could be tackled at a later date.
India is negotiating an FTA with the United States, and a team of commerce ministry officials is currently in Washington trying to secure an early agreement ahead of the July 9 deadline set by President Donald Trump for imposition of higher tariffs.
Industry lobby CII is expecting a "balanced, reasonable FTA which will be done in tranches... Those areas which are more tricky, which require more consultation, have greater political ramifications, maybe dealt with later on," said Memani, who took over as CII President recently.
India is reluctant to open access to sensitive agriculture and dairy sectors to the US industry, as opening the farm sector could jeopardise the interest of farmers. Also, India does not want to open the dairy sector because of religious sensitivities.
"I do know that the level of preparation that the Ministry of Commerce has done, and the engagement that they have had with industry, the engagement that they have had with various industries, in Ministry of Agriculture has been very limited... and I feel very confident that the challenges that Indian industry, and particularly some sectors mentioned, agriculture... those will be adequately addressed.
"Also from an industry standpoint, there are issues and concerns that have been raised, in all these things you will not always have 100 per cent winners...," the CII President said.
On reports of Foxconn Technology Group asking Chinese engineers and technicians to return home from its iPhone plant in India, the CII President, in an apparent reference to China, said that "when a Quad meeting is happening, there is some action that we see from some countries, and there are (certain) messages in a way".
The four-nation Quad grouping includes India, US, Australia, and Japan.
Responding to another question on China restricting exports of rare earth magnets and its impact on India's auto sector, as well as other sectors like electronics, the CII sector said it was a "big concern" for the auto sector and there was a need to look at areas where India has "critical supply chain dependencies", including active pharmaceutical ingredients.
India is heavily reliant on China for APIs, the raw materials for drug manufacturing.
"In auto, I would say a concern is more serious than what's come out till now. In fact, some of the most conservative companies are already starting to give some guidance on lowering their production levels going forward. So definitely, there is a worry, concern, much more than auto in some other sectors as well, but I think it's much more predominant," Memani said.
India imports over 53,000 metric tonne rare earth magnets annually (FY25), with China dominating the global supply chain, accounting for over 60 per cent of global REE mining and nearly 90 per cent of refining.
China's recent tightening of export licensing norms has further constrained global availability.