ABSTRACT
This chapter presents how the Indian trade policy system is structured, how trade players influence Indian trade policy, and India's perspective on trade issues and negotiations. India was part of the British Empire until 1947, when it became two independent states: one Muslim state and another state with a Hindu majority, India. During the first decades of independence and under the view that International Trade was only beneficial to developed regions of the world, India was an almost autarchic country. India's trade policy is formulated for five-year periods, with yearly adjustments. The most trade policy is for the period 2015–2020. The trade policy's main goals are the simplification of import proceedings, the increase of exports and the use of trade to reduce unemployment rates, and the reduction of tariffs, which went from 32 percent in 2001 to 15 percent in 2007 and to 12 percent in 2011.
