Export Game Strong: India’s Leather and Threads Just Got a UK Passport

India and the UK have agreed upon a historic Free Trade Agreement that will remove import tariffs on Indian clothing, leather, footwear, and a host of other labor-intensive items. This will benefit Indian exporters enormously by providing them with a much-needed advantage over their Bangladeshi and Vietnamese counterparts in the high-revenue UK market.

Highlights of the agreement include:

The FTA eliminates or significantly lowers tariffs on 99% of Indian exports to the UK, such as textiles, leather, processed food, and others. These products previously attracted import duties between 2% and 20%.

Indian goods such as woven and knitted clothing, footwear, carpets, and marine products will now come into the UK market with tariff benefits of 5-9%, becoming more price-competitive.

Apparel exporters anticipate that clothing exports to the UK will rise by 25–30% and predict woven clothing exports are likely to at least double to $1.6 billion in 2027 from $753 million. 

The agreement also promises employment to Indian textile cities like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.

Industry captains, such as the Federation of Indian Export Organisations and the Apparel Export Promotion Council, welcomed the agreement as a game-changer which opens up new export prospects, lowers barriers to trade, and promotes long-term sectoral development.

The FTA is a watershed moment which places India as a resilient and credible trading partner and places its businesses more firmly on the global value chain.

Sources: Economic Times, Apparel Resources, Entrepreneur India, The Week