Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement has been in force for a little over a month. The asymmetry written into it — 99 per cent of Indian lines into Britain, 90 per cent of British lines into India — is not an oversight. It is the shape of a deal between an economy that has finished industrialising and one that has not.
CETA entered into force on 15 July 2026, after signature and ratification on both sides. From that date, 99 per cent of Indian goods entering the United Kingdom face zero or reduced duty, while 90 per cent of British goods entering India get the same treatment. Total trade between the two countries stood at £48 billion in 2025, and the agreement covers goods, services, procurement and professional mobility rather than tariffs alone.
Where it was ratified: The Palace of Westminster. CETA required parliamentary passage in Britain and executive approval in India before it could enter into force on 15 July 2026.
A nine-percentage-point gap in tariff coverage is what a developing economy negotiates for when it wants market access without opening every domestic sector at once.
At a Glance
• In force since: 15 July 2026
• Indian goods into the UK: 99% of lines duty-free or at reduced duty
• UK goods into India: 90% of lines duty-free or at reduced duty
• Two-way trade, 2025: £48 billion
• Sectors named: automotive, manufacturing, consumer goods, creative industries, medical technology
• Companion instrument: the Double Contributions Convention on social security
• Effect of the DCC: employees posted between the two countries, and their employers, contribute in one country at a time
• Official name: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
For an ordinary reader the DCC may matter more than the tariff schedule. Indian professionals posted to Britain on intra-company transfers have historically paid National Insurance in the United Kingdom while remaining liable for provident fund contributions at home — paying twice for a benefit they could draw once. The Double Contributions Convention negotiated alongside CETA removes that duplication for postings within the period the Convention specifies, which lowers the cost of sending an Indian engineer or accountant to a British client site.
The sectoral list is where Indian exporters should be looking. Textiles and garments, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery, marine products and engineering goods are the categories in which UK tariffs had been meaningful and Indian capacity is already built — which is to say, sectors where a duty cut converts into orders quickly rather than after a decade of investment. On the British side, the sectors named in the agreement are automotive, manufacturing, consumer goods, creative industries and medical technology.
The nine-point gap deserves an honest reading rather than a defensive one. India has kept 10 per cent of its tariff lines outside the liberalisation schedule because those lines cover sectors — principally agriculture and dairy — where several million smallholder livelihoods sit behind the tariff wall. That is a legitimate developmental choice, made openly in the negotiation, and Britain accepted it. Trade agreements between economies at different stages are asymmetric by design; pretending otherwise helps nobody.
What to watch over the coming quarters is not the headline trade figure but its composition. Two-way trade of £48 billion will grow for reasons that have nothing to do with CETA — currency, energy prices, the business cycle. The test of the agreement is whether the newly duty-free Indian categories grow faster than the ones that were already duty-free, and whether the DCC shows up as more Indian professionals on UK assignments. Both are measurable, and the first full quarter of data lands in October.
