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Britain and India approved on Tuesday the “teacher” of free trade, which London claimed to strengthen the British economy by 4.8 billion pounds in the long term, with significant discounts in Indian definitions on UK exports of whiskey and cars.
Talks on the deal, which lasted for three years, accelerated in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s imposition of the world Definitions Last month, with London and New Delhi’s eager to close trade relations.
“In a historical teacher, India and the United Kingdom have successfully concluded an ambitious and useful agreement for free trade,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X after a conversation with his UK counterpart, Sir Kerr Starmer.
Modi added that the deal “will help India almost.
British ministers hope that the commercial deal in India will be a prelude to signing an agreement with Trump in the coming days, before a deal with the European Union to start improving bilateral bonds at a summit on May 19.
While Britain got a less tariff for export to India, including whiskey, jinn and cars, New Delhi wanted better conditions to help its professional workers take care of jobs in the IT sector, as well as a low fabric tariff.
Starmer said that the deal was in response to a “new era of trade and economy” and was a sign that his government, which was beaten in the local elections last week, was presenting to the British public.
He said: “Today, we agreed on a prominent agreement with India, which is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, which will grow the economy and present the British people and business.”
The whiskey and gene tariff will decrease to half from 150 percent to 75 percent before it decreases to 40 percent by the tenth year of the deal. A car tariff will decrease from more than 100 percent to 10 percent, taking into account the share.
The UK government said that the cuts in the definitions of Indian products will help provide British shoppers with “cheaper prices and more choice” in regions including clothes, shoes and food products such as shrimp.
Although the full details are not yet available, the commercial agreement is expected to be one of the most important new agreements signed by Britain since its departure from the European Union, and after agreements with Australia and Japan.
It is also possible to be one of the most important cases that India has signed under the Moody government, which has signed free trade agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Australia and the European Free Trade Association over the past decade.
According to the year 2022, the deal will include the definitions of India, which is worth more than 400 million pounds annually when the agreement entered into force, as it rose to about 900 million pounds after 10 years, according to the UK government.
He added that he is expected to increase the deal from bilateral trade by 25.5 billion pounds and the GDP in the United Kingdom by 4.8 billion pounds in the long term. The bilateral trade between the United Kingdom and India reached 42.6 billion pounds in 2024, while the GDP in the United Kingdom was 2,851 billion pounds.
The advertisement said that the deal will bring “certainty in the market” to British services exports of 500 billion pounds per year. However, the Association of Law in England and Wales said that the deal failed to include legal services and was a “lost opportunity”.
The UK government insisted that the commercial deal did not involve changes in the visa system or the broader immigration strategy, at a time when reform in the UK is seriously campaign on the case.
UK government officials said the deal will make it as simple as Indian companies to transport professional employees to the United Kingdom under short -term transfer operations.
Indian employees will not have to pay national insurance contributions during the short -term transfers to the United Kingdom, but they will remain subject to the same salaries and they must pay additional fees for migrant workers.
India will keep the definitions in place of dairy products, while the UK maintains restrictions in some agricultural products such as ground rice.
India was the second largest export market for Scotch Whiskyy by size in 2023, according to the Scotch Whisky Association, which praised the deal as a “historic moment” for the industry. India is the third largest car market after the United States and China, although the Ministry of Business said this will be subject to a “share”, without a situation.
Sime Louis, commercial bullets at Consultance Flint Global, said that being among the first countries to have concluded a free trade deal with India was a victory for the United Kingdom, but the final benefits will not become clear over time.
Additional reports by Amy Burit
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