India-UK trade deal: CETA opens duty-free access for Indian seafood; exporters eye 70% growth boost
The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is likely to provide a major boost to India's seafood and export sectors. The landmark pact was signed on Thursday, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and was formalised by commerce minister Piyush Goyal and UK secretary of state for business and trade Jonathan Reynolds.
As per news agency ANI, the agreement is expected to significantly benefit India's marine exports by scrapping UK import tariffs that previously ranged from 0 to 21.5 per cent. These included duties on shrimp, squid, frozen pomfret, lobsters, and other seafood items under HS Codes 03, 05, 15, 23, 95, and 1603 to 1605.
With CETA now in effect, all marine products in tariff category 'A' receive full duty exemption.
However, certain prepared seafood items under HS 1601 remain excluded from benefits.
India exported $104 million worth of seafood to the UK in 2024–25, with frozen shrimp accounting for $80 million alone. Despite this, India's share in Britain's $5.4 billion seafood market stands at just 2.25 per cent.
Industry estimates now predict a 70 per cent increase in exports to the UK, supported by improved cost competitiveness, according to ANI.
The fisheries sector supports nearly 28 million livelihoods in India and accounts for 8 per cent of global fish production.
Over the past decade, seafood export volume jumped 60 per cent and value grew 88 per cent.
According to ANI, the number of destinations expanded from 100 to 130 countries, and value-added product exports tripled to Rs 7,666 crore, reflecting a shift towards premium markets.
CETA helps India level the field with countries like Vietnam and Singapore, which already enjoy UK duty benefits through their respective FTAs.
This removes a key disadvantage previously faced by Indian exporters, especially for high-value products.
States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh are well-positioned to lead this export surge, especially if they continue to align with the UK's sanitary and phytosanitary standards.
Experts say the deal's scope goes beyond seafood. The landmark agreement provides zero-duty access to 99 per cent of tariff lines, with a key focus on labour-intensive areas other than seafood like textiles, leather, and gems and jewellery.
It is expected to drive up exports in consumer goods, apparel, cosmetics, auto parts, and jewellery. As per news agency PTI, EY India's Agneshwar Sen believes that Indian MSMEs and job creation in labour-heavy sectors would benefit, while UK firms gain deeper access to India's growing market.
The agreement also marks progress in services trade. ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar was quoted by PTI as saying that India stands to gain from UK concessions in IT, financial services, education, and professional mobility.
An added social security pact allows Indian professionals to be exempt from UK contributions for three years, making overseas employment more financially viable.
Stay informed with the latest
business
news, updates on
bank holidays
and
public holidays
.
AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
Wistron is eyeing Rs 1,000 crore IT hardware plant in Telangana
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Wistron, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer that sold its iPhone assembly plant in Karnataka's Kolar to Tata Electronics in 2023, is firming up plans for an electronics production facility in Telangana with an investment of around Rs 1,000 crore, people aware of the matter is scouting for land in Hyderabad to build the facility that will manufacture servers, routers and switches, these people said on the condition of exiting the Kolar plant, where it had faced worker unrest in 2020, Wistron is again expanding its operations in India. The plans also include setting up a Rs 1,450 crore plant in Bengaluru to manufacture laptops. This facility is scheduled to start production by January 2026, Karnataka industries minister MB Patil said last year."They (Wistron) have decided to come to Telangana with a different product line. They are investing almost Rs 1,000 crore. Now they are finalising the location,' said one of the people. 'It could be in the same area where Hyderabad's electronics manufacturing is concentrated, in one of the electronics parks on the outskirts of the city. It has not frozen the location yet. They have seen a few locations," this person said."Wistron is into manufacturing servers, routers and switches. Manufacturing of those may go to Telangana. But it will be the non-iPhone making that will go to the state; iPhone assembly is ruled out," another person did not comment on the Telangana plan. In a statement to ET, the company repeated the announcement in 2024 when it said a wholly owned subsidiary, ICT Service Management Solutions (India), intended to secure a land use right from the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board for up to Rs 140 crore. That land is near the international airport in Bangalore, it said in the latest Karnataka State High Level Clearance Committee had in March last year approved ICT Service Management's Rs 1,450 crore investment proposal with a potential to create 2,500 jobs. In January last year, when the company and the state government signed a memorandum of understanding, minister Patil said that ICT Service Management had sought 32 acres for the proposed proposed unit with a fully automated facility would make laptops for all brands and over 50% of laptops made here would be exported, Patil had said. The plant would also produce IoT components and EV-related currently operates in India through three subsidiaries: ICT Service Management, Smartiply India and Wistron Automotive Electronics (India). While ICT Service Management focuses on import-export services and maintenance operations, Smartiply India develops internet platforms and IoT-related products. Wistron Automotive Electronics specialises in manufacturing, R&D and design of automotive electronics and related products.
Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
MeitY wants tariff shield for electronics exports
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills India wants its fledgling electronics exports, dependent largely on the US markets for overseas earnings, to be treated differently from Washington-bound shipments from established global players, such as those based in China and Southeast Asia, when the Oval Office fixes tariffs for these product of electronics, lately undergirded by federal financial support in India, would require a relatively favourable tariff landscape to fill US retailing shelves against competition from established exporters from mainland China, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia, said an official from the Ministry Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY)."The US is the largest destination for not only our overall electronics sector, but also for a range of individual electronic products,' said the official cited above. 'The large-scale production of many of these are now kicking in, due to government support over the past few years. It is crucial they don't face tariff barriers at this point, and we have communicated that to the Commerce Department."India's commerce ministry is at the vanguard of the ongoing Washington-New Delhi talks that would shape the final tariff landscape for bilateral trade. The MEITY official said it made the request to the commerce ministry for helping shield Indian electronics from the applicable continental tariffs dragnet during the recent inter-ministerial talks on the trade 2024, the United States imported a combined $478 billion of electrical machinery and electronics, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, an online repository of global trade data begun as a research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. China (26.1 percent), Mexico (18 percent), Vietnam (8.8 percent), Taiwan (6.7 percent), and Malaysia (5.9 percent) made up the largest share of sectoral exports. Meanwhile, India was the 9th largest source of shipments, with a 3 percent a last-minute postponement, as was the case in early July, the US will levy 26% average tariffs on all goods imported from India beginning August 1, over and above a 10 percent baseline tariff imposed on most ' reciprocal tariffs ' initially announced by US President Donald Trump on April 2 would especially hit Indian electronics exports, which have historically had much lower or nil tariffs, officials said."While smartphones, computers, and semiconductors were temporarily exempted from the tariffs, the US had threatened separate, sector-specific tariffs on these until last month," said the official cited to the Commerce Department data, US-bound electronic exports stood at $15.89 billion in 2024-25, up 43.5 percent from $11.08 billion in the preceding year. Within this, smartphones and telecom instruments made up the largest chunk of exports at $10.56 billion, up from $5.56 billion in 2023-24. Smartphone exports shot up 89 percent in FY25, after rising 158 and 210 percent in FY24 and FY23, government is especially concerned about the second largest export sub-category within electronics, components, which tanked 32.7 percent to $1.81 billion in 2024-25, down from $2.69 billion in 2023-24. This is mostly due to a 43.85 percent slump in the export of photovoltaic cells (PVC) assembled in modules, or made up into panels, due to rising domestic production in the US, increasing competition by Chinese producers as well as increasing scrutiny of shipments from India and South East Asian countries at US ports to stop circumvention of Chinese goods, officials instruments exports stood at $1.4 billion, rising 12.10 percent from $1.25 billion in the preceding year. Also, computer hardware of $154.08 million was exported to the US, rising 51 percent from $101.5 million in 2023-24. Another area where the government hopes to raise exports is consumer electronics, which fell 5.3 percent in the latest year to $115 million.
The Hindu
14 minutes ago
- The Hindu
The Hindu Morning Digest, July 29, 2025
Ceasefire had no linkage with U.S. trade: Jaishankar in Parliament In a clear rebuttal of the repeated assertions by U.S. President Donald Trump that he stopped the recent India-Pakistan conflict, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the Lok Sabha that there was no phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Trump during the tense phase with Pakistan after the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Mr. Trump has said on multiple occasions that he extracted a ceasefire from India and Pakistan by threatening to cut off trade if they continued fighting. Yemen revokes Nimisha Priya's death sentence, claims Kanthapuram The execution of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya, who is on a death row for the alleged murder of Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi, has been revoked by the Houthi militia in Yemeni capital Sanaa, office of Sunni leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar claimed. However, Indian officials handling the case did not confirm the development. India, Pakistan would still be at war if not for his intervention, Trump repeats ceasefire claim India and Pakistan would still be warring with each other, if not for his intervention, U.S. President Donald Trump said. The U.S. President made the remarks before beginning talks with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland. The President also claimed, again, repeated his claim that he used trade as leverage to get New Delhi and Islamabad to stop fighting in early May this year, after terrorists opened fire and killed 26 civilians in Pahalgam. New Delhi has consistently denied Mr. Trump's claims that he was instrumental in bringing about the May 10 ceasefire between the two countries. At least 34 killed in heavy rains and flooding in and near Beijing Heavy rains and flooding killed 30 people in Beijing, China's capital, the country's state media reported on Tuesday (July 29, 2025), bringing the death toll from the storms in the region to at least 34. State broadcaster CCTV said that 28 people had died in Beijing's hard-hit Miyun district and two others in Yanqing district as of midnight. Both are outlying parts of the sprawling city, far from the downtown. Why did Justice Varma submit to in-house inquiry if it was contrary to Constitution, Supreme Court asks The Supreme Court questioned High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma's choice to submit to an in-house inquiry procedure into an allegation of 'burnt cash' found at his official residential premises in Delhi, despite finding the procedure to be 'completely contrary to the Constitutional scheme'. The query came after senior advocate Kapil Sibal complained that the action taken by the Supreme Court at the time, including release of sensitive visual and audio materials showing 'burnt currency', 'convicted' Justice Varma in the public eye. Opposition questions government on security lapses which led to Pahalgam terror attack Opposition parties, led by the Congress, questioned the Centre over 'security lapses' which had led to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. The parties also attacked the government over the sudden 'ceasefire' declaration and as well as claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump on having brokered it. The Congress's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, who opened the debate from Opposition ranks on the special discussion about 'India's strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam', said Home Minister Amit Shah should take responsibility for the security lapses. Protests over SIR continue; Rajya Sabha fails to function Rajya Sabha failed to function as the Opposition MPs continued to protest over the issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar. This is the sixth consecutive sitting when no significant business could be transacted in the Upper House of Parliament. The Opposition had moved 26 notices under Rule 267 demanding discussion on various issues. Fourteen of these notices were on SIR exercise. Presidential Reference 'misleading', wants Supreme Court to sit on appeal against its own verdict in T.N. Governor case, says Kerala to Supreme Court The States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the Presidential Reference seeking clarity on whether judiciary can fix timelines for the President and State Governors to clear State Bills, saying it is a ruse to make the apex court sit in appeal of its own authoritative pronouncement in the Tamil Nadu Governor case. The Constitution, both States said, did not allow the apex court to sit in appeal of its own judgments, nor can the President vest appellate jurisdiction in the court through a Presidential Reference. Tamil Nadu and Kerala termed the Reference as 'misleading' replete with 'suppressed facts'. West Bengal's 2002 SIR electoral roll appears on CEO site amidst speculations of fresh voter list revision Amid speculations of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being conducted for West Bengal's electoral roll, the 2002 voters' list of some districts has been made available online on the website of the State's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). Reportedly, the last SIR of the voters' list in West Bengal was conducted in 2002. This development assumes significance considering that in Bihar, the last SIR was conducted in 2003 and the electoral roll of that year has been kept as a reference point for the submission of identification documents for the SIR of 2025. Assam govt prepares for mega eviction drive in Golaghat, to affect 2,000 families The Assam government is preparing to clear more than 10,000 bigha (over 3,300 acre) of land from alleged encroachments in Golaghat district, which will affect at least 2,000 families, officials said. The eviction drive will begin on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) morning in Rengma Reserve Forest in Uriamghat along the Assam-Nagaland border in Sarupathar sub-division, they said. IIM Calcutta to allow student out on bail in rape case to attend classes, bars him from hostel Premanand Mahaveer Toppanavar, the student of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, who was accused of raping a woman on campus, has been allowed to resume classes after receiving bail, the Institute's director-in-charge, Saibal Chattopadhyay, told The Hindu. 'He is attending classes from today. Access to the hostel is barred for the time being,' Mr Chattopadhyay said. He added that the decision was taken in an emergency academic council meeting held on Friday. NIA submits reports on Jiribam killings, Manipur HC gives one month to file chargesheet The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has submitted two sealed reports to the Manipur High Court on the progress it has made in the Jiribam case in which six women and children of the Meitei community were abducted and later found dead in the Barak River in November last year. Taking it on record, the court told the probe agency to submit a detailed report in terms of the chargesheet within one month. SIT, along with complainant, inspects spots of alleged burials near Dharmasthala Officials of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing into the allegations of a series of murders and burials at Dharmasthala, along with the complainant-witness, inspected some spots near Dharmasthala on Monday where the latter has claimed to have buried bodies. According to official sources, the inspection of the spots of burials was part of the process to obtain permission to exhume bodies. After completing the inspection, a report will be submitted to the jurisdictional revenue officer to seek permission to exhume bodies. Muslim cleric booked for 'objectionable' remarks on Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav A Muslim cleric has been booked for allegedly making objectionable and inflammatory remarks against Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav during a televised debate, an official said on Monday (July 28, 2025). The FIR against cleric Maulana Sajid Rashidi was lodged at the Vibhuti Khand police station on Sunday (July 27, 2025) evening on a complaint by local resident Pravesh Yadav. The remarks in question were allegedly made in response to Dimple Yadav's recent visit to a mosque, where the cleric reportedly commented inappropriately on her attire. The complaint accused Rashidi of making statements that were not only derogatory and misogynistic, but also "highly provocative and aimed at inciting religious disharmony and communal tension," according to the FIR. Industrial growth pulled down to 10-month low of 1.5% in June Growth in industrial activity slowed to a 10-month low of 1.5% in June 2025, down from 1.9% in May. This slowdown was driven by the mining sector, which saw its worst performance in 58 months, and also by contractions in the electricity and primary goods sectors. Data on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, showed the index last witnessed worse growth numbers in August 2024. Thailand and Cambodia agree to 'immediate and unconditional' ceasefire, Malaysian PM says Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an 'immediate and unconditional' ceasefire from midnight to resolve deadly border clashes, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. Mr. Anwar, who chaired the talks as head of the ASEAN regional bloc, said both sides have reached a common understanding to take steps to return to normalcy. Earlier, ceasefire talks have started between Thailand and Cambodian leaders in Malaysia in an urgent effort to resolve deadly border clashes that entered a fifth day despite mounting international calls for peace. Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of report over dog bites leading to rabies The Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of a media report about incidents of dog bites leading to rabies. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan termed the news item published today in an English daily's Delhi edition as "very disturbing and alarming". It said every day, hundreds of dog bites were being reported in the city and on its outskirts, leading to rabies and ultimately, children and the aged were falling prey to the dreadful disease. FIDE Women's World Cup: Divya Deshmukh is the first Indian woman champion, becomes Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh is the World Cup winner. She is also India's latest Grandmaster, only the fourth Indian woman to get that most coveted of titles in chess. The 19-year-old from Nagpur recorded the greatest moment of her young career when she beat fellow-Indian Koneru Humpy in the tiebreakers of the World Cup final at Batumi, Georgia. Both games in the classical format had been drawn, leading to the shootout in speed chess.
