The goods include carpets, leather products, iron and steel commodities, aircraft parts, precious metals and chemicals.
That said, this exclusion may turn out to be temporary as both countries are in the process of finalising a Free Trade Agreement.
Due to their removal from the “Standard Preferences list,” Indian products are no longer subject to preferential duty regulations. The government is pressing for lower access for textiles and leather goods under the Free Trade Agreement that India and the UK have been trying to work out.
India and the UK have been negotiating an FTA since January last year, with a goal towards a comprehensive pact that is expected to significantly enhance the bilateral trading relationship worth an estimated GBP 34 billion in 2022.
According to official UK government statistics, India was the UK’s 12th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022, accounting for 2.1 per cent of total UK trade.DCTS will provide duty-free, quota-free trade to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on everything but arms and duty-free. It will offer quota-free trade on 85 per cent of eligible goods to most Low Income Countries (LICs) and Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that also include India.Indian leather will shift to UK Global Tariff whose exports are seen to be “especially competitive”. Metals from India were seen to be “not as competitive” and will move to the “DCTS standard preference rate”, which means they retain some concession. According to an industry source, exports of goods like bicycles from India are also anticipated to grow under DCTS.
19 chapters in the tariff schedule have been subjected to the “graduation” formula from India. The precise number of goods is not available.
However, the UK government has declared that goods in transit or in a customs warehouse will be eligible for GSP (General Scheme of Preferences) benefits. However, it stated that the proof of origin certificate would need to be granted prior to June 19.
The DCTS has undergone a number of modifications that will help the least developed countries and the low income and vulnerable countries among the developing nations.
The UK government said that 85 per cent of the goods coming from these parts of the world get preferential access to the UK instead of 80 per cent under GSP.
Recently, the UK’s Department of Business and Trade (DBT) described the UK-India investment partnership as “thriving”, with over GBP 28 billion invested in each other’s economies supporting over half a million jobs.
(With inputs from TOI)