The UK-India Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 15 July 2026. Under the agreement, 99% of Indian goods are eligible for duty-free or reduced-duty access to the UK market. The FTA is the result of a negotiation process that began in January 2022.

For ecommerce brands, the direct relevance depends on their supply chain. Brands that source products from India and route them through the UK will see reduced import costs on those goods entering the UK. For beauty brands, health and wellness brands, and fashion brands that source from Indian manufacturers, this is a meaningful cost reduction on the inbound side of their UK business.

For US-based brands that do not source from India, the FTA does not directly change their UK import economics. Their goods enter the UK under existing UK-US trade terms, which remain unchanged.

The FTA is part of a broader UK post-Brexit trade agenda. The UK has also concluded or progressed agreements with Australia, New Zealand and the CPTPP bloc, alongside the UK-EU reset negotiations. Each of these shapes the trade cost environment for UK-based operations differently.

For brands building UK distribution operations, the India agreement adds to the case for the UK as a regional hub. Goods sourced from India can flow into the UK at preferential rates, and from a UK warehouse brands can serve UK consumers and, through separate EU logistics, European consumers without incurring duplicate tariff costs on the same India-sourced goods.

Setting the UK up as that hub, with EU distribution registered and running alongside it, is the structure Expandly builds for brands entering both markets.