Scotch at 40%, Cars at 10%, and 23% Back in an Engineer's Pocket: CETA Comes Into Force

Article summary

The India–United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement entered into force on 15 July 2026, alongside the Agreement on Social Security Contributions known as the Double Contribution Convention. The agreement was signed on 24 July 2025 after fourteen rounds of negotiation and runs to thirty chapters covering goods, services, digital trade, investment, intellectual property, government procurement, labour, environment, gender and MSMEs. On tariffs the two schedules are asymmetric by design: the United Kingdom opens to about 99 per cent of Indian exports, with 97.7 per cent of trade value liberalised immediately, while India eliminates duties on roughly 90 per cent of products covering 89.4 per cent of trade value, with only 30.3 per cent immediate and 47 per cent phased over time. Headline sectoral changes include elimination of UK duties of up to 10 per cent on textiles, up to 12 per cent on gems and jewellery and up to 16 per cent on footwear, while India cuts automobile tariffs from 110 per cent to 30 per cent in year one and 10 per cent by year five under a quota rising from 20,000 to 37,000 vehicles, and alcohol duties from 150 per cent to 75 per cent, falling to 40 per cent by year ten. The Double Contribution Convention exempts around 75,000 Indian professionals and over 900 firms from UK social security contributions for five years.