Try GOLD - Free
India-UK FTA: A bold pathway to closer trade ties
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
|July 26, 2025
It addresses India’s concern on weaponisation of environmental and labour standards for disguised protectionism
India and the UK have signed a historic free trade agreement (FTA). Coming on the heels of India’s other key FTAs with Australia and the UAE, the India-UK FTA promises to give a significant boost to the existing bilateral trade of $56 billion between the two countries. Spanning 30 chapters and comprehensively covering a wide range of issues, from trade in goods and services to labour, environment, and gender, the FTA is a new deal for businesses and people in India and the UK.
India’s labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles, leather, gems, and jewellery, are going to be significant beneficiaries of this FTA, as the UK will eliminate its tariff rates on these products. India, on its part, will lower tariff rates for passenger automobiles and other goods that are of interest to Britain. For instance, as per India’s Schedule of Tariff Commitments, the tariff rates on passenger automobile vehicles will be reduced to 11%. However, this reduction has been placed in the staging category E10, which means that the tariff rate shall be reduced in ten equal annual installments. Thus, India has negotiated a more extended transition period, which will allow Indian industry ample time to prepare for the competition it will face from British cars. Moreover, the Indian automobile industry — a key success story of India’s economic liberalisation — is robust and competitive enough to ward off import competition. Thus, the fear that the Indian automobile industry will suffer, as some have opined, due to the India-UK FTA, is exaggerated.
This story is from the July 26, 2025 edition of Hindustan Times Rajasthan.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM Hindustan Times Rajasthan
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
Weaving richer success for India’s apparel sector
India’s domestic textile and apparel market is estimated to be $180 billion and growing at 9-10%.
2 mins
February 24, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
Red sunset on the horizon
The surrender of top Maoists underlines the near-collapse of the insurgents. But the road ahead must be one of development and democratic promise
2 mins
February 24, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
The great Indian local governance challenge
India’s founding fathers famously disagreed on many policy issues.
3 mins
February 24, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
Managing crises in the absence of dialogue
Calibrated steadying mechanisms — rather than diplomatic breakthroughs — offer the most realistic path forward for managing India-Pakistan relations
4 mins
February 24, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
‘You have to colour within the line...comply with law’
Neal Katyal, the Indian-American lead attorney who successfully argued in the Supreme Court against US President Donald Trump’s powers to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, has termed the verdict a victory for constitutional government.
5 mins
February 24, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
IDFC First shares dip 20% on alleged $65 million fraud
Shares of India’s IDFC First Bank slumped as much as 20% on Monday, after the private lender disclosed suspected fraud amounting to %590 crore ($65 million) over the weekend, fuelling concerns about the potential impact on its earnings.
1 mins
February 24, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
Talent in the AI age: Code coolies to core engineers
For decades, India’s most talented engineers served like coolies for American corporations.
4 mins
February 23, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
His face was morphed on porn: Shatrughan's lawyer on personality rights case
Days after the Bombay High Court granted ad-interim relief to actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha by restraining certain websites, social media accounts, AI-linked entities, and others from misusing and exploiting his personality rights, his lawyer explains what the order entails and why it was necessary.
1 min
February 23, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
World after the judicial rebuff of Trump tariffs
The US Supreme Court ruling provides reasons to celebrate, but the threat of tariffs under other legal provisions remains. Countries trading with the US should consider challenging this through all available forums
4 mins
February 23, 2026
Hindustan Times Rajasthan
Reports of Ranbir reviving RK Studio are 'baseless'
After reports of Ranbir Kapoor reviving late actor-filmmaker Raj Kapoor's production house RK Studio surfaced, claiming that he has signed a 20-year lease for a massive space in Mumbai, a source close to the family calls it \"baseless\".
1 min
February 23, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size

