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हिन्दी — Read in HindiTrade policy, tariffs and trade agreements
How India trades: its policy, its tariffs and its agreements with other countries.
Showing 2 of 3 articles, those that changed from 1 to 30 September 2026.Show all
India's trade agreements
Copy link to India's trade agreementsPrelims and Mains
LeadIndia's new trade agreements: the pact with the United Kingdom comes into forceJuly 2026
Why in news
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between India and the United Kingdom came into force on 15 July 2026, with a separate convention on social security. The pact with Oman had come into force on 1 June.
Background
- In 2019 India stayed out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, fearing a flood of imports.
- Since 2022 it has changed course, signing with the United Arab Emirates, Australia, the European Free Trade Association, the United Kingdom, Oman and New Zealand, and concluding talks with the European Union.
- The new partners are mostly developed economies whose exports do not compete with India's labour intensive goods.
What India gets
- The United Kingdom removed or cut duties on about 99 per cent of its tariff lines for Indian goods, most of them at once.
- The gain is largest for textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, and marine products.
- Services: commitments in all major sectors, and entry for some Indian professionals.
- Social security: Indian workers posted to the United Kingdom for up to five years do not pay into its social security as well as India's.
What India gives, and what it protects
- India cuts duties on about nine tenths of its lines, but in phases.
- Kept out: dairy, cereals, apples, edible oils and gold.
- Cars: lower duty only within a quota. This is the first time India has cut car tariffs in a trade pact.
- British firms may bid for central government purchases.
Do such agreements work?
- India's earlier pacts in Asia widened its deficits, and exporters made little use of the lower duties.
- The reason: rules of origin and paperwork cost more than the duty saved, above all for small firms.
- Tariffs are no longer the main barrier. Standards, and measures such as Europe's carbon border tax, now matter more.
- A signed pact can be undercut from outside it: the United Kingdom put new duties on steel weeks before the start.
The way forward
- Help small exporters claim the preference: simple certificates of origin, and help desks.
- Raise quality and standards at home, since that is what the buyer tests.
- Fix inverted duties, where the input is taxed more than the finished good.
- Review each pact after a few years against its promises.
Prelims facts
- India and United Kingdom pact: signed 24 July 2025, in force 15 July 2026.
- India and Oman pact: signed in Muscat in December 2025, in force 1 June 2026. Oman is India's second such partner in the Gulf, after the United Arab Emirates.
- Dairy is kept out of India's offers.
- A trade agreement is approved by the Union Cabinet; it does not need ratification by Parliament.
- The European Free Trade Association has four members: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
In 2019 India stayed out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, fearing a flood of imports.
What changed
24 Sep 2026newly added
- India and New Zealand exchanged ratification documents, and their free trade agreement, signed on 27 April 2026, enters into force on 20 October 2026.
- India and the EU will sign their free trade agreement, concluded in January 2026, in Brussels on 16 December 2026.
The Hindu, 24 Sep 2026: India-EU FTA to be signed on December 16 (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 21 Sep 2026: India-New Zealand FTA ratified, to come into effect on October 20 (opens in a new tab) · News On AIR, 21 Sep 2026: India–New Zealand FTA comes into force on 20 October (opens in a new tab)
Show history (3 other updates)
12 Aug 2026Briefnewly addedIndia signed terms of reference with the Southern African Customs Union for preferential trade agreement talks, and on 26 August took forward talks with Chile on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. BusinessDay, 12 Aug 2026: India and SACU revive talks on preferential trade agreement (opens in a new tab) · Southern African Customs Union, 13 Aug 2026: Press release: SACU and India sign Terms of Reference (opens in a new tab) · India Briefing, 26 Aug 2026: India FTA tracker 2026 (opens in a new tab)
15 Jul 2026LeadIndia's new trade agreements: the pact with the United Kingdom comes into force
1 Jun 2026Newnewly added
- The India and Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed in Muscat on 18 December 2025, came into force on 1 June 2026.
- Oman offers duty free entry on 98.08 per cent of its tariff lines, and the pact also covers services and professional mobility.
- Oman's ports of Duqm and Salalah lie outside the Strait of Hormuz, so the pact helps keep supplies moving during the West Asian disruption.
- Oman is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and this is India's second CEPA in the Gulf after the one with the UAE.
Mains: The gains depend on helping small exporters claim the preference, since complex rules of origin have kept India's use of free trade agreement preferences low.
The Hindu, 1 Jun 2026: India, Oman free trade pact comes into force (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 9 Jun 2026 · SteelOrbis, 1 Jun 2026: India and Oman FTA to come into effect from June 1, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
American tariffs and India's exports
Copy link to American tariffs and India's exportsPrelims and Mains
LeadAmerican tariffs and India's trade: standards as the new price of entryAugust 2026
Why in news
Trade data released on 13 August 2026 showed India's goods trade deficit for July at a six month high, though exports grew by nearly a fifth. July was the first month under a new American duty of 10 per cent, imposed on India from 24 July under Section 301.
Background
- The United States is India's largest market for goods.
- American tariffs on India now rest on separate laws: Section 301 (unfair practices of other countries), Section 232 (national security; steel, aluminium and auto parts) and, for a time, Section 122 (a temporary tariff for at most 150 days).
- In July the American trade office ended an inquiry into forced labour in the exports of 60 trading partners, and imposed duties of 10 to 12.5 per cent.
- India and the United States have been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement; no interim deal was reached by the deadline.
Why India got the lower rate
- On 13 July India amended its Foreign Trade Policy to ban imports of goods made with forced labour.
- It was then placed at 10 per cent, against 12.5 per cent for competitors such as China and Vietnam.
- The lesson: access to a market now depends on a country's labour and environmental rules, and not only on its tariffs.
Why the deficit widened though exports rose
- Imports grew from a much larger base, and dearer crude and fertiliser, and larger electronics imports, raised the bill.
- Part of the rise in exports came from higher prices, not larger volumes.
- Services are the cushion: the surplus on services covered about half the goods deficit.
- Electronics imports remain far larger than electronics exports, which raises the question of how much value is added at home.
How far the tariff reaches
- About 45 per cent of India's exports to the United States, among them generic medicines and smartphones, are exempt.
- A threat hangs over generic medicines, with duties announced for 2028 unless production moves to the United States.
- Because rivals pay more, India's relative position did not worsen.
- A tariff imposed by executive order can be raised again; only a signed agreement gives certainty.
The way forward
- Conclude the bilateral trade agreement.
- Diversify markets, using the new pacts with the United Kingdom, Oman and others.
- Meet standards on labour, carbon and traceability at home, since more buyers will ask for them.
- Deepen domestic value addition in electronics.
Prelims facts
- Sections 301 and 122 are in the American Trade Act of 1974; Section 232 is in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
- The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, under the commerce ministry, notifies the Foreign Trade Policy.
- India runs a deficit in goods and a surplus in services.
- The Foreign Trade Policy in force is of 2023.
- The United States is India's largest export market for goods.
The United States is India's largest market for goods.
What changed
20 Sep 2026newly added
- The US President signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which allows tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that keep buying Russian oil and gas, subject to a presidential waiver.
- Russia supplied over half of India's oil imports in July, and India has conveyed its energy security concerns and is expected to seek a waiver.
Mains: Tariffs tied to energy purchases join trade policy to energy security, since India imports more than 85 per cent of its crude oil.
The Indian Express, 20 Sep 2026 · The Hindu, 20 Sep 2026 · The Hindu, 17 Sep 2026: As U.S. readies 100% tariffs, Russia provided more than half of India's oil imports in July (opens in a new tab)
Show history (1 other update)
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