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Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel has said that the major commodities in which India has a trade deficit with China include electronic components, computer hardware, telecom instruments, industrial machinery for dairy and organic chemicals.

She said the commodities exhibiting trade deficit with China constituted 86.7 per cent of the total trade in 2014-15, which has reduced to 83.8 per cent of the total trade with China in 2021-22. She stated, similarly, the services exhibiting trade deficit with China contributed 30.3 per cent to the total trade with China in 2014, which has reduced to 18.5 per cent in 2019.

Besides, she said India has signed 13 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with its trading partners including the UAE, Australia and Singapore. She added India is currently negotiating FTAs with the United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada. However, it is difficult to predict the timeline for completion of negotiations, as agreements are entered into when negotiating countries are satisfied with the outcome.