The UK’s long-delayed trade agreement with India may have been given fresh momentum by escalating global trade tensions driven by U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff policies, according to analysts at leading advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.
Jim Brown, Chief Operating Officer at the audit and tax firm, suggested that the uncertainty caused by Trump’s aggressive stance on trade has acted as a catalyst for the UK to push forward long-stalled post-Brexit trade negotiations.
“It has taken this government and the last a long time to progress the trade deals that were promised post-Brexit,” Brown said. “They are very complicated to negotiate, but perhaps the current debates around tariffs and the uncertainty this is causing for businesses has helped focus attention — and more deals may now follow.”
The UK and India have been engaged in intermittent trade talks for several years, but recent geopolitical developments — particularly the United States’ imposition of sweeping tariffs — appear to have injected urgency into those discussions. With Indian markets offering significant growth potential, the deal is expected to create new export opportunities and help British businesses diversify away from volatile global supply chains.
Brown noted that many of his firm’s clients with international operations have expressed concern about rising costs and logistical complications stemming from protectionist measures. He argued that smoother cross-border trade is now more essential than ever.
“Making cross-border transactions as frictionless as possible can only be of benefit to British consumers,” he said, adding that reducing trade friction could help mitigate inflationary pressure.
As negotiations with India near completion, Brown urged the UK government to take advantage of the current global climate and push forward on other trade fronts — including potential agreements with China focused on electric vehicles and electronics.
“The Government needs to use the current situation to complete the trade deals they’ve been discussing since Brexit, and come up with new ones,” he said.
The remarks come at a time when the UK government is under pressure to deliver tangible results from its post-Brexit trade strategy. Trump’s administration has recently reintroduced broad tariffs on a range of goods, including a 145% duty on Chinese imports and blanket 10% levies on others, unsettling global markets and prompting countries to seek more secure trading relationships.
A successful trade deal with India would mark a significant step for the UK as it seeks to redefine its role in global commerce — and, if experts are correct, it may be the first in a wave of new deals shaped by rising geopolitical tension.
