UK-Built Cars And Bikes To Benefit As Two Countries Sign Free Trade Agreement

India and UK have successfully signed their “ambitious and mutually beneficial” Free Trade Agreement. This will result in significant tariff cuts on exports from the UK to India, and vice versa. This means that the importing of UK-made cars and bikes, like Aston Martin, Bentley, etc, will attract less tariff and will be more cost effective going forwards. This is also likely to see a few iconic British names entering India, like Norton Motorcycles, the arrival of which has been confirmed by its parent company TVS.

The deal concluded after three-years of start-stop negotiations wherein the UK had begun free trade talks with India way back in January 2022. Via this agreement it is anticipated to increase bilateral trade between the two countries by a further 25.5 billion pounds by 2040. Furthermore, it will also give both India and the UK access to the liberal markets and eased trade restrictions. 

The UK government has stated that India will cut tariffs on 90 per cent of UK imports, while 85 per cent of those will become tariff free by the next decade. These negotiations will be on three different fronts – FTA, Bilateral Investment Treaty and a social security pact called Double Contribution Convention. This pack is expected to open up India’s most guarded markets, including automobiles. Therefore, auto imports from the UK are slated to see significant tariff reductions. 

TVS Motor Company’s MD, Sudarshan Venu, shared his thoughts on the new FTA, “We applaud our PM’s vision to enhance India’s trade links globally. It creates large opportunities for Indian companies like ours to expand further and access new markets. We really appreciate the effort taken by the Government to make this historic India-UK Free Trade Agreement. Our British brand Norton will launch later this year and this agreement will help us scale faster and leverage common supply chains. We are excited as we further progress towards Viksit Bharat.” 

Alongside, both countries are also seeking bilateral deals with the United States to remove some of Trump’s tariffs that have put the global trade system in a state of frenzy. However, a final conclusion is yet to be reached in this regard.