INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
to materialise in the form of new trade deals and
agreements that exclude the UK or leverage its
isolated position for greater advantage.
Since 2016, the decision to leave the EU has
already seen the UK experience major economic
disruptions. In 2018, The Center for Economic
and Policy Research reported that the Brexit
decision had cost the UK nearly 2–2.5 per cent
of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which
is about £56–70 billion. More importantly, future
trends show that this is expected to go down
further by 4.5 per cent for the UK, leading up
to potentially a 10 per cent loss in per capita
income. And while a lot of these projections are
anticipatory and highly debated, the fact that fear
and uncertainty are deeply rooted in the minds of
business and individuals, remains.
In the overall scheme of things, the EU has little
to lose, given their united standing and systematic
approach to long-term economic planning. This
has led to the UK taking an even more adversarial
stance with the EU, especially when it comes to
matters of international trade. For the last three
years, the UK has been attempting to offset these
fears and economic projections by attempting
to initiate new tie-ups and partnerships with
nations around the world. However, this has been
easier said than done for the nation. Numerous
international businesses have begun pulling
out of the UK as many others seriously begin
considering their position. During this dynamic
period, the role of emerging giants such as India
has proven to be a decisive factor for economic
policies of the UK.
THE INDIA-UK TRADE REALITY
The state of India-UK trade relations has never
been big news. This is despite the fact that the
UK has been the fifth largest export destination
THE EU HAS LITTLE TO
LOSE, GIVEN THEIR UNITED
STANDING AND SYSTEMATIC
APPROACH TO LONG-TERM
ECONOMIC PLANNING.
for Indian exports, scaling over US$9.16 billion.
However, this accounts for about 3.3 per cent
of all Indian exports, which, compared to India’s
relationship with the EU nations, is not that high.
Until 2016, all EU nations, except the UK, were
collectively India’s largest trade partners until
it was overtaken by China and the US. India
exported about US$41 billion of goods to non-UK
and EU nations in 2017, which impacts India’s
trade priorities by a great deal.
Since 2016, Indian stakeholders have become
very cautious of the UK as a domestic business
environment while still considering it a viable
location for trade exports. This is simply because
when the UK was a part of the EU, businesses
invested in the UK with the long-term goal of
paving a way into Europe due to the common
APPAREL
I
June 2019
I
51