UK and India on cusp of striking trade deal

LONDON — Britain and India are closing in on a long-coveted trade deal after an intensive two-day negotiating sprint in London.

British business leaders had been invited to No. 10 Downing Street on Tuesday afternoon for an announcement on the talks.

It comes after India’s trade chief Piyush Goyal told attendees at a business roundtable in London Tuesday morning that “25 of 26 matters have been agreed” in the negotiations, three people familiar with the briefing told POLITICO. 

India’s commerce minister was speaking during his second day of talks with Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds as the two sides try to push the long-sought deal over the finish line after years of negotiations.

British stakeholders were briefed on the talks by Amanda Brooks, director general for Trade Negotiations at the Department for Business and Trade, on Tuesday afternoon.

Brooks said that a deal with India is close but that Goyal had raised outstanding issues in a meeting with Reynolds on Tuesday, said multiple people familiar with the content of the briefing. All were granted anonymity to speak freely.

Among the issues are India's calls for a carve-out from Britain's forthcoming tax on high-emissions imports like steel and aluminum the government has promised to roll out in 2027.

Other issues include the description of Indian territory in the deal and the sunset clause in the pact’s parallel investment treaty.

Talks on a bilateral trade deal began in early 2022. Then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised the deal would be struck by Diwali that November, but an agreement never materialized.

Reynolds traveled to Delhi to restart the negotiations in February. A breakthrough in the talks came after India accepted Britain would only offer minor changes to its visa regime, with the two sides closing the mobility chapter of the deal in recent weeks.

Rule changes that would allow more Indians to obtain visas to work in the U.K. have been a politically sensitive issue in the talks. A British official said early this week that the new rules will lead to only 100 new visas for Indian workers per year.

A No. 10 spokesperson said on Tuesday afternoon that that negotiations were “constructive and productive.” They added: “We’ve been clear that we will only sign a deal in our best interest.”

This story has been updated.