India has joined major steel-exporting nations including Japan, South Korea and China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to protest a UK proposal that would slash tariff-free steel import quotas from July 1 and increase duties on shipments exceeding the quota to 50 per cent, sources said.
New Delhi’s objections, raised at a WTO Goods Council meeting on Wednesday, are in sync with its attempts to bilaterally resolve the dispute with the UK by stalling operationalisation of the India-UK FTA till a solution is found.
“Japan and Korea introduced the item underlining their reservations with the UK’s steel safeguard measures to be implemented from July 1, 2026. Countries including India, China, Brazil, Australia, Switzerland and Turkiye supported them,” a Geneva-based trade official told businessline.
The complainants argued that concerns on global steel overcapacity should not be addressed through import restrictions but by addressing root causes. They also questioned the consistency of such measures with WTO rules.
New measure
New Delhi is also trying to convince the UK to sort out the matter bilaterally as the new measure was not accounted for in the India-UK comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) negotiations that concluded in July 2025. India was promised tariff elimination on 99 per cent of goods by the UK, but the steel measure would impose additional burden.
India’s export of iron and steel to the UK in FY26 was around $900 million much of which could be hit by UK’s new steel safeguard measures.
“We are working together to find a creative solution around the steel measure and operationalise the CETA at an early date,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told reporters last week when asked about the delay in operationalisation of the free trade pact.
In its defence, the UK noted at the WTO that the new steel measures were legitimate and were necessary to protect its steel making capability, the source said.
The creative solution being examined by India and the UK bilaterally to break the FTA deadlock could be centered on creating an India-specific quota within the UK’s new framework, an industry source said.
Published on May 21, 2026