By Alistair Smout
LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) – 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.”
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 U.S. 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-U.S. trade deal agreed last year was not impacted.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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