India has expressed concern over the UK’s proposal to impose restrictions on steel imports at a key World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting, even as it continues to engage bilaterally on the issue in the context of operationalising the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The issue of a new taxation structure on steel imports was raised at the meeting of the WTO’s Council for Trade in Goods where India provided its response. Korea and Japan initiated the discussion on the UK’s move. China, Brazil, Turkiye and Australia were others who opposed the move.
The Council oversees the implementation of all agreements relating to trade in goods. It is the top subsidiary body of the WTO and reports directly to the General Council, the highest-level decision-making body in Geneva of the world trade watchdog.
UK steel curbs may hit India gains
From July 1, 2026, the UK government will limit tariff-free steel imports, reducing overall quota that were available under the existing safeguard measured by 60%. Any imports above these levels will then face a 50% tariff. The announcement made on March 19 has led India and the UK back to the table on CEPA implementation. The new taxation regime proposed by the UK will take away gains for India under the agreement and reduce its commercial importance for India.
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India’s exports of iron and steel and their products to the UK stood at $ 893.4 million in 2025-26, which accounts for a significant portion of $ 13.4 billion of total merchandise exports to the UK.
To remove this irritant in making the CETA functional, India and the UK are engaged bilaterally. Officials say that this move by the UK was not factored in while negotiating the India-UK deal. “We are working together to find a unique, creative solution around the steel measure also so that we can officialise the India-UK FTA at a mutually agreed date,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal had said last week. Earlier the agreement was expected to come into force from April-May.
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India-UK CETA awaits final rollout date
The CETA signed in July 2025, has been vetted by both houses of UK’s Parliament in March. In India the ratification of FTAs is through executive process, needing Cabinet approval. Now the only formal step remaining is a decision on a mutually agreed date for the Entry into Force (EIF) of the agreement. The CETA will allow 99% of the Indian exports to enter the UK duty free and cover almost 100% of the trade in value terms. For the UK, India will reduce or eliminate duties on 90% of the tariff lines that account for 92% of the imports.
The immediate target for the FTA is to double bilateral trade – both goods and services – to $ 120 billion by 2030 from $ 56.9 billion in 2024-25. The talks on the agreement began in January 2022 and were concluded on May 6 last year.
TOPICSeconomy newsFTAIndia UK FTASteelUnited KingdomWTO + 0 MoreThis article was first uploaded on May twenty-two, twenty twenty-six, at twenty-three minutes past six in the morning.