Free Trade? Not So Much?

The Central Boilers Board (“CBB”), under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (“DPIIT”), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has notified the Indian Boiler Regulations, 2026 (“IBR 2026”) under the Boilers Act, 2025.

The Reserve Bank of India has introduced comprehensive new regulations consolidating the entire export-import framework, set to take effect from October 2026.

The 2026 Regulations are primarily principle-based and are intended to promote ease of doing business, especially for small exporters and importers. They are also intended to empower Authorised Dealers (‘AD’) to provide quicker and more efficient service to their customers.

The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which was signed on 27th April 2026, will enter into force on 20th October 2026. With effect from such date, tariffs on textiles, apparel, leather, footwear, engineering goods, and processed foods, exported from India to New Zealand will be eliminated.

The European Union's 2026 Steel import Regulation marks a fundamental shift from temporary trade safeguards to permanent industrial policy, dramatically reducing tariff-free quotas by 47%, doubling out-of-quota duties to 50%, and introducing stringent 'melt and pour' traceability requirements. This transformation raises critical questions about whether traditional distinctions between trade remedies and industrial policy are disappearing, with significant implications for major steel exporters like India.

India and the European Union (EU) concluded talks on the much-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on 27 January 2026, following 14 rounds of negotiations relaunched in 2022. The conclusion was jointly announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, with the latter describing the agreement reached as the “mother of all deals”.India and the European Union (EU) concluded talks on the much-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on 27 January 2026, following 14 rounds of negotiations relaunched in 2022. The conclusion was jointly announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, with the latter describing the agreement reached as the “mother of all deals”.

On 2nd May 2025, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, through its Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), issued a significant notification prohibiting the import...

The Hague convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters was signed on 15 November 1965.

India and the European Union have concluded negotiations on a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, with the EU offering preferential tariff access to 97% of tariff lines for Indian exports while India provides access...

The European Union has adopted its largest-ever sanctions package against Russia's military-industrial complex, listing 1,569 entities and individuals. This unprecedented expansion of EU sanctions has significant implications for businesses worldwide, particularly those in third countries like India that have been increasingly targeted in recent packages. Understanding these measures and their extraterritorial reach is crucial for companies engaged in international trade.