Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK-India trade deal on ceramics manufacturers.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department recognises the significant challenges faced by energy-intensive industries like ceramics, including rising global energy costs, unfair trading practices, and carbon leakage. We are taking firm action to protect these industries, including through trade defence measures against dumping and subsidisation. The UK-India FTA also includes a bilateral safeguard mechanism, allowing the UK to suspend or increase tariff concessions if serious injury occurs.
Over 93% of Indian ceramics entered the UK tariff-free in 2024 prior to the FTA conclusion whilst the remaining 7% paid a tariff. 11 of the 43 ceramics tariff lines are dutiable and face a simple average tariff of 4%.