India-UK CETA: Exports to UK rise 8% while imports fall 17% in first two months

Key facts

• India's merchandise exports to the UK rose 8% year-on-year to $2.43 billion in August-September 2026, the first two full months after the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) came into force on July 15, 2026.
• India's goods imports from the UK fell 16.8% to $1.36 billion in August-September 2026.
• India's exports to the UK grew over 10% to $1.26 billion in August 2026 and about 5.5% to $1.17 billion in September 2026, after a 4.2% fall to $1.2 billion in July 2026.
• Imports from the UK rose nearly 12% to $639 million in July 2026 and over 24% to $733 million in August, before falling 40% to $630 million in September 2026, partly due to lower imports of precious metals like silver.
• Provisional commerce ministry data released on October 15 showed India's exports to the UK rose 7.22% to $7.32 billion in April-September 2026-27, while imports declined 1.6% to $4.06 billion.
• The CETA provides zero-duty access for nearly 99% of India's exports covering almost 100% of trade value, including labour-intensive products such as textiles, leather goods, marine products, gems and jewellery, toys, engineering goods, chemicals and auto components.
• CETA removes or reduces tariffs on 90% of tariff lines covering about 92% of India's goods imports from the UK, cutting duties on whisky and gin from 150% to 75% at entry into force and 40% after staging, and reducing car tariffs from up to 110% to 10% under a quota.
• CETA also provides simplified rules of origin, boosts services trade and professional mobility, and a Double Contribution Convention exempts workers and employers from paying social security contributions.