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India–Canada CEPA: Closing Canada's preference gap before compliance

That prediction is not really a bet that Canadian shoppers will buy twice as many Indian garments. It is a bet that India can finally compete in Canada on equal trade terms because today, Canada is one of the few rich, high-volume apparel markets where India often sells with a built-in disadvantage: many Indian garments still enter under MFN ‘tariff-peak’ duties in HS **/**, while key rivals land at zero per cent thanks to Canada’s preference system.

If CEPA closes that gap, orders can move fast, especially in knit basics where buyers can switch suppliers within a season. But there is a second shift that matters just as much: Canada is becoming a compliance-first market, and that will decide who wins after tariffs.