Global trade

These palm oils include "refined bleached deodorised palm oil", "refined bleached deodorised palmolein", and another variant (palm oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified). As per a Ministry of Commerce and Industry notification, the import is free for a period up to December 31, 2022.

According to CAIT, after being tipped off by the Bhind police, the police in Visakhapatnam have recovered 48 kg marijuana from one of Amazon's partners. An FIR was registered in this connection on November 20 under the NDPS Act, 1985, CAIT claimed in a statement. It is learnt that two Amazon delivery boys have also been arrested by the Visakhapatnam police, CAIT said.

EU Parliament Member Luis Garicano explained the concerns over human rights issues in Pakistan following a visit to the country in a series of tweets. Garicano is a Spanish economist and politician who is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Spain since 2019. "The @EUParl is very concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation, which puts into question the continuation of the preferred trade status of the country (GSP+)," Garicano said.

Accordingly, the Indian export basket in 1HFY22 consisted of a healthy mix of both labour-intensive and high-value manufactured items. However, the ratings agency said that it will not be easy to maintain the current export growth momentum, as the stimulus-induced demand in developed economies might normalise in 2022. "Also, the political backlash against globalisation, which became pronounced 2012-2013 onwards, but has taken a backseat lately due to the C19 pandemic, may resurface."

Despite the reduction in growth, volumes remain at a remarkably high level, given how strong the industry performed in Q3 2020. As a result, the PC market has undergone a two-year CAGR of 9 per cent from Q3 2019. Despite high demand, PC business suffered a series of blows, making it extremely hard to facilitate supply.

The current account swung into positive territory with a surplus of $6.5 billion in Q1FY22 from a deficit of $8.1 billion in the preceding quarter.

Kotak Economic Research report noted that imports in August increased further as economic activity continued to normalize and exports continued to be strong but have stagnated at the current levels, for now, leading to a widening of the trade deficit. Imports in August increased 51.5 per cent to $47 billion while increasing sequentially by 1.3 per cent (July: $46.4 billion).

HP Inc. and Epson grew 11.7 per cent and 57.1 per cent year over year, respectively while Canon declined 5.9 per cent due to semiconductor shortages and stock issues, according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC). As with Canon, Brother also experienced significant challenges regarding production and stock availability causing it to contract 4.9% year over year.

According to the Council, new records have been hit in container freight spot rates of all carriers, as the Asia-Europe route continues to continuously rise and is currently approaching $9,000 per Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU), with further rises expected this month. It cautioned that if this trend continues, India might see a decline in the exports in coming months as these are major markets for exports

The lower house of parliament on Friday approved a draft law introduced the previous day, cancelling a 2012 policy that enabled New Delhi to tax some foreign investments retrospectively. The upper house is expected to approve the law as early as next week. New Delhi would also drop $13.5 billion in outstanding claims against multinationals such as telecoms group Vodafone.