By Manoj Kumar, Shivangi Acharya and Alistair Smout
NEW DELHI/LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) – India could reconsider tariff concessions offered to Britain on products such as Scotch whisky if London fails to address New Delhi’s concerns over forthcoming steel measures, an Indian official said on Monday ahead of fresh bilateral trade talks.
The India-UK free trade deal, signed in May last year and expected to take effect this year, has run into hurdles after Britain proposed reducing quotas and increasing tariffs on steel imports to protect its domestic industry.
“So now the ball is in their (UK) court,” an Indian trade official told reporters on Monday. “If they do not leverage their free trade agreement, we can always reconsider the concessions we offered.”
Britain’s Trade Secretary Peter Kyle is due in India for talks with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday and, in a statement, Kyle said the free trade agreement was a win-win and would “unlock massive opportunities.”
“I look forward to working with Piyush Goyal to make sure everybody can start to feel the benefits as soon as possible,” Kyle said in the statement, which didn’t mention discussions on steel.
A UK official said that steel is not part of the discussions on implementing the free trade agreement.
Under the trade pact, India agreed to cut tariffs on Scotch whisky from 150% to 75% initially and further to 40% over 10 years.
The deal includes tariff reductions by both sides on a range of goods, from textiles to whisky and cars, while expanding market access for businesses in the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies.
The two countries expect the agreement to boost bilateral trade by an additional 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion) by 2040.
India, along with Brazil, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Australia, has raised concerns at the World Trade Organization over Britain’s new steel measures.
India argues they could restrict market access for Indian exports. Tariff-free quotas and higher duties on some steel shipments would create fresh uncertainty for Indian exporters even as both sides work to implement the trade pact, officials said.
(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya and Manoj Kumar in New Delhi and Alistair Smout in London; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Susan Fenton)
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