New Delhi, July 27 — India has agreed to reduce or eliminate import duties on a broad array of British products under the newly signed free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom, including pastries, pet food, cosmetics, and consumer appliances, while shielding key domestic industries from foreign competition.
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), inked on July 24, will take effect in about a year, pending approval from the British Parliament. The pact provides phased tariff concessions across nearly 90 percent of UK-origin goods, according to an analysis by think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).
“India has carefully tailored its concessions to balance foreign access with domestic sensitivities,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder of GTRI. “The agreement includes phased concessions across sectors—from chocolates and consumer appliances to industrial inputs—while strategically excluding sensitive items like tea, coffee, and gold.”
Among the goods set to benefit from lower duties are cakes, chocolates, dog and cat food, protein concentrates, soaps, shaving creams, detergents, and home appliances such as air conditioners, washing machines, and microwave ovens.
Products such as microwave ovens, detergents, and shaving creams will receive immediate duty-free access once the agreement comes into force. Other goods will follow staggered timelines. For instance, the 33 percent duty on chocolates will be reduced to zero over seven years, while pastries and protein concentrates, taxed at 33 percent and 44 percent respectively, will enjoy full tariff elimination within 10 years.
Pet food products—currently taxed at 22 percent—will also be duty-free in seven years. On personal care items, cosmetics facing 22 percent import duties and soaps at 11 percent will see tariffs gradually phased out over a decade.
India’s 22 percent duty on appliances like air conditioners and washing machines will be eliminated over 10 years, while microwave ovens are set to become duty-free immediately.
For recyclable and industrial goods, the agreement adopts a selective approach. Waste paper, taxed at 11 percent, will see duties eliminated over a 10-year horizon. Ferrous and brass scrap—both taxed at 2.75 percent—will either be duty-free immediately or over a decade, while aluminium scrap has been kept out of the deal entirely.
Among metals, silver bars (currently taxed at 10.75 percent) and palladium (11 percent) will both become duty-free over 10 years. Gold bars, facing the same duty rate, remain excluded from any tariff relief.
In the aerospace sector, turbo-jets with thrust above 25kN, currently facing 8.25 percent duties, will become tariff-free over seven years.
Alcoholic beverages will see steep but selective cuts. Bottled spirits priced above $6 per 750 ml—such as whisky, vodka, and gin—will benefit from sharply reduced duties, falling from 110 percent to 75 percent in the first year and gradually to 40 percent by the tenth.
GTRI noted that India deliberately excluded high-tariff items such as tea, coffee, and sausages, which attract duties of up to 110 percent, reflecting efforts to protect domestic agriculture and food processing industries.
“The phased structure gives Indian industries time to adapt to competition while extending a calibrated welcome to UK exporters,” Srivastava said.
The agreement marks a significant step in India’s push to strengthen trade ties with Western economies, while maintaining strategic safeguards to protect domestic interests.
