Talks between Britain and India on implementing a free trade deal are moving quickly and going well, trade minister Peter Kyle said, suggesting the deal would not be reopened but could come into effect later than expected after a dispute over steel.
Britain and India agreed a free trade deal in May 2025 and signed it two months later, to be implemented after each country ratified the deal, which was expected to happen within about a year. But Indian officials have expressed concern about steel trade measures that Britain is due to introduce next month, and have suggested that aspects of the trade deal could be renegotiated as a result.
Speaking after returning from talks in Delhi on Wednesday, Kyle played down the disagreement, citing comments by his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal that discussions had gone well.
"We look forward to cracking on. These things take time but we've been working at breakneck speed," Kyle told reporters after a trade dinner in the City of London.
A British official has said talks on implementing the free trade agreement (FTA) were separate to the steel trade measures.
Asked if the deal could be reopened, Kyle said: "I'm not negotiating in public or via the media, but the FTA is what it is." He hinted that its implementation might come later in the year.
"If we implemented the deal in autumn this year, it would be the fastest implementation period of any trade deal that Britain has ever signed."
Kyle’s remarks come after an Indian official earlier this week said the government could scale back tariff relief on a range of products under the trade deal signed last year, due to concerns over the UK’s recent steel safeguards which will sharply reduce tariff-free import quotas.
Indian officials had previously said they expected the agreement to be implemented by May, although Britain has not put a precise timescale on talks. Kyle also looked to reassure on the prospect of new US tariffs over forced labour, saying Washington had acknowledged UK efforts on the issue and that Britain faced no new tariffs for the moment.
"(The) report vindicates our approach because they named the British legislation and put us in the highest category of any of their partner countries," Kyle said, adding a UK-US trade deal agreed last year was not impacted.
Kyle also said the UK’s relationship with China had evolved into “a much more conventional diplomatic engagement” over the last decade.
Earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pushed for more clarity in a meeting with his UK counterpart, Yvette Cooper, on how the UK defines national security for investment purposes.
The UK blocked Chinese renewable energy company Ming Yang from opening a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Scotland over national security concerns.
Kyle said he had been “very frank with them about what we mean by national security and what we mean by deepening the trading relationship,” and while investments in national infrastructure were unlikely to be approved, projects such as Nissan’s recent agreement to produce cars for Chinese company Chery at its Sunderland plant showed that “China is enthusiastic about investment in Britain.”
China has joined European companies in raising questions around how the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act, which imposes “Made in EU” requirements for public procurement, will affect the UK, Kyle said. France is currently urging Brussels to address Britain’s exclusion from the planned rules
“BMW, Siemens, Renault have all been very open about their concerns about their desire to learn more about the Industrial Accelerator Act with relationship to Britain,” Kyle said. “It’s not surprising that China would as well.”