India–Australia Trade at Zero Tariffs: Why ECTA Is Quietly Redrawing the Indo-Pacific Economic Map

As of January 1, 2026, every Indian product entering Australia does so without paying a single rupee in tariff. No carve-outs, no fine print. Three years after the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) came into force, Australia has fully eliminated tariffs on Indian exports — offering Indian businesses unfettered access to a nearly $2-trillion economy. In a world where trade barriers are rising, this stands out as a rare, consequential success story.

What exactly has changed under ECTA?

The most striking outcome of “Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement” is that Australia has now removed tariffs on 100% of Indian goods exports. This includes textiles, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, gems and jewellery, agricultural products, and processed foods.

In return, India has progressively reduced or eliminated duties on a wide range of Australian exports — particularly coal, critical minerals, metals, wine, and certain agricultural products — creating a two-way flow that benefits both economies.

The trade numbers tell a compelling story

Driven by ECTA, bilateral trade between “India” and “Australia” has crossed AUD 50 billion (around ₹3 lakh crore) for the first time. Over the past five years, two-way goods trade has doubled.

What is especially notable is the pace of India’s export growth. While India’s global goods exports rose by about 40% over the last five years, exports to Australia surged by 200% — five times faster than India’s average export growth. This signals not just market access, but deepening commercial integration.

Why the partnership works: economic complementarity

The India–Australia trade story is not accidental; it is built on structural complementarity. Australia brings to the table what India increasingly needs — critical minerals, rare earths, energy resources, and advanced skilling expertise that support manufacturing and clean-energy transitions.

India, in turn, supplies what Australia’s economy and consumers demand: competitively priced manufactured goods, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, garments, and agricultural produce. These are no longer niche diaspora products. Indian brands — from Mahindra vehicles to Indian-origin food products — are becoming mainstream in Australian cities.

Jobs, growth and political confidence

Trade under ECTA is translating into employment on both sides. In Australia, where one in four jobs is linked to trade, an estimated 200,000 jobs are now connected to commerce with India. In India, Commerce and Industry Minister “Piyush Goyal” had projected the creation of one million jobs from ECTA — a target that recent trade growth suggests may already be within reach.

This economic momentum has reinforced political confidence. Indian and Australian leaders increasingly frame the partnership as a stabilising anchor in an uncertain Indo-Pacific trading environment.

Why this matters in a fragmented global trade order

ECTA’s success is particularly significant at a time when global trade is becoming less predictable, marked by protectionism, geopolitical rivalries and supply-chain weaponisation. Against this backdrop, Australia has positioned itself as a reliable, rules-based trade partner for India.

Indian policymakers now describe Australia as central to India’s economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific — not merely as a commodity supplier, but as a strategic economic partner aligned with India’s long-term growth trajectory.

From ECTA to CECA: what comes next?

Both countries are now working to upgrade ECTA into a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). Unlike ECTA, which focused primarily on goods, CECA is expected to deepen cooperation across services, investment, digital trade, education, and critical-minerals supply chains.

In November, Minister Goyal and Australia’s trade minister reaffirmed their commitment to conclude CECA at the earliest. Parallelly, Australia has released a dedicated roadmap for economic engagement with India, outlining how it plans to integrate itself into India’s rise as a manufacturing and consumption powerhouse.

A quiet but strategic success

ECTA may not generate daily headlines, but its impact is structural. It has delivered tariff-free access, accelerated export growth, created jobs, and built trust at a time when global trade partnerships are under strain.

For India, the agreement offers a template for future trade deals — pragmatic, phased, and anchored in economic complementarity rather than ideology. For Australia, it represents a long-term bet on India’s ascent.

Three years on, ECTA has done more than liberalise trade. It has demonstrated that in an era of uncertainty, trusted partnerships can still deliver shared prosperity — and that India’s trade future in the Indo-Pacific is already taking shape.