- Iconic UK cricket exports could see boost from new Free Trade Agreement
- Latest round of talks kicked off by Trade Secretary concludes positively in New Delhi
- Comes as England T20 World Cup-winning men’s players took part in yesterday’s (Friday, December 23) Indian Premier League auction for upcoming season
Cricket bat and pad exports from the UK to India can be in line for a big boost next time of year thanks to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
The latest round associated with negotiations on the deal, kicked off by the Trade Admin in person, wrapped up in Brand new Delhi last week.
The agreement seeks to cut red tape plus tariffs with regard to businesses, which could include reducing the current 20% tariff on cricket bats and pads made in the UNITED KINGDOM.
Any reduction could benefit iconic British brands like Gunn & Moore, whose bats are used simply by England captain Ben Stokes and have been trading with Indian for more than a century.
The Nottingham-based firm, which usually uses English willow in its bats plus exports both wooden bat ‘clefts’ and fully made bats in order to India, welcomed the negotiations, saying cuts to tariffs would help its business.
UK exports to Of india of British willow, which is bought by Indian companies to make bats used by gamers at all levels of the game, were worth over £6 million annually between 2018 and 2020, and are currently subject to the tariff of 10%.
An FTA could see these taxes reduce or even removed entirely, along with a range of duties on other exports that would help UK firms expand into an economy due to become the world’s third largest simply by 2050.
The most recent round associated with negotiations completed a week ahead of yesterday’s (Friday, Dec 23) Indian native Premier Little league (IPL) auction, which saw its teams bid regarding players like Stokes plus some of his England ICC T20 Men’s World Cup-winning team-mates to represent them in the season ahead.
Minister intended for Exports Andrew Bowie said:
English cricket is rightly proud of its world champion players – but also of our brilliant exports like the willow that goes to make the bats hitting boundaries across the world.
We look forward to concluding a modern ambitious trade deal with India that helps UNITED KINGDOM exporters of all types hit their sales targets and builds around the increasing amount of British goods and services sold to India, worth £12 billion in the particular 12 months in order to the end of June.
Gunn & Moore Sales Director Richard Lowy said:
Gunn & Moore Cricket are fully supportive of an UK -India trade deal and look forward to that having a very positive outcome to get both countries.
Britain and Wales Cricket Board Interim CEO Clare Connor said:
England plus India have got long shared a passion for cricket that extends beyond the boundaries associated with play. We are fortunate to have a game that can not only inspire millions of people across both nations but which creates opportunities to compete and learn from one another in major tournaments such as the particular IPL and bring us all closer together.
Board of Control pertaining to Cricket in India Honorary Secretary Mr Jay Shah said:
Since 1932, when India played its first-ever Test against Great britain at Lord’s, India-UK cricketing bonds have only grown stronger along with each passing year.
While India enjoys tremendous support in England, the British players possess been the crowd favourites in Indian and are usually certainly upon the must-buy lists associated with IPL franchises.
The current UK – India investing relationship is already worth more than £29 billion dollars and UK-Indian investments assistance nearly half a million jobs throughout both countries.