TPM Consultants: August 2026 - Non-Tariff Measures

Explore the latest developments in global trade policy, including forced labor regulations, WTO disputes, and India's Foreign Trade Policy amendments. This comprehensive update covers trade remedial actions, new Standard Input Output Norms, and critical changes affecting international commerce and compliance requirements.

The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (‘CETA’), signed on 24.07.2025, marks an important step towards a more modern, efficient and trusted framework for bilateral trade. For Indian importers, one of its most significant innovations is the transition from authority-issued certificates of origin to exporter or producer self-certification. This shift is a welcome development for industry, as it places greater reliance on commercial documentation, supports faster trade flows and aligns origin procedures with contemporary supply-chain practices.

India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi this weekend, where member nations navigate competing priorities: Russia seeks to demonstrate global relevance despite Western isolation, China and India work to strengthen their diplomatic thaw, and New Delhi pushes for digital currency integration while avoiding a common BRICS currency. Can the bloc maintain unity amid Brazilian elections, the Iran war, economic pressures, and members' diverging relationships with the US and other Western powers?

India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies has launched an anti-dumping investigation into Cold Rolled Grain Oriented Electrical Steel and Amorphous Metal imports from Japan, China, Korea, and Russia. This investigation carries significant implications for Japanese steel producers and exporters, particularly given Japan's leadership in manufacturing premium grain-oriented electrical steel and India's growing demand for transformer-grade materials. The notification raises critical questions about product

The CESTAT Kolkata has ruled that Customs authorities cannot mechanically deny Certificate of Origin benefits from an overseas supplier simply due to non-cooperation during verification.

India's new DGFT e-commerce export framework mandates that foreign-backed marketplaces establish dedicated Indian subsidiaries while local suppliers act as GST-compliant...

Foreign capital can now reach almost every layer of an Indian airline’s balance sheet, but control cannot. Every foreign strategic investor and private equity sponsor must internalize before drafting term sheets for a domestic carrier. The percentage of equity a foreign party may hold and the degree of control it may exercise are governed by two separate legal regimes that do not move together, and the gap between them is where most aviation deals in India succeed or unravel.

India's trade-remedy framework is experiencing a significant shift as the Ministry of Finance increasingly declines to impose anti-dumping duties despite affirmative findings by the investigating authority. What factors are driving this departure from decades of consistent implementation, and what are the implications for domestic manufacturers and India's broader industrial policy?

The automobile sector has emerged as one of the most closely watched industries under the recently concluded India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (“DPIIT”), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, on 23.07.2026, issued Press Note No. 3 (2026 Series) (DPIIT F. No. P-15015/9/2025-FDI Policy) (“Press Note”) , reviewing the Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”) policy applicable to the e-commerce sector.

Explore the latest developments in global trade policy, including forced labor regulations, WTO disputes, and India's Foreign Trade Policy amendments. This comprehensive update covers trade remedial actions, new Standard Input Output Norms, and critical changes affecting international commerce and compliance requirements.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has introduced the Standard Input Output Norms for the following seven products under "Chemicals and Allied Products" with immediate effect.

The Bureau of Indian Standards has notified the amendment of certain Standards, including the following, with effect from 22nd June 2026.

India and Maldives successfully concluded trade negotiations for a free trade agreement and a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) marking a significant milestone in bilateral economic relations.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade launched support for Trade Regulations, Accreditation & Compliance Enablement which offered partial reimbursement of eligible expenditure...

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has amended the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 to introduce a framework enabling the prohibition of imports of goods produced or manufactured using forced labour.

Pursuant to the writ petitions filed before the Hon'ble Madras High Court challenging the failure of the Central Government to impose anti-dumping duties despite the Directorate General of Trade Remedies issuing affirmative final findings, the Hon'ble High Court of Madras has granted interim relief.

Trade remedial investigations are often viewed through the lens of determinations of dumping/subsidy, injury and causal link. Yet, some of the most consequential legal questions arise with regard to procedure, which one takes for granted many a time.

The Central Government vide Notification No. 18/2026-Customs (ADD) dated 27th July 2026 has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of Low Ash Metallurgical Coke from Australia, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan and Russia.

The WTO Panel examined whether the European Commission could continue an anti-dumping investigation after the domestic industry withdrew its complaint, and whether parallel anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations must be treated identically. Indonesia challenged the EU's decision to proceed with anti-dumping measures on Fatty Acids imports while terminating the parallel anti-subsidy investigation.