UK election may impact policies including FTA with India: S&P Global Market Intelligence

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, a financial information and analytics firm, the impacts the election could pose include the UK's trade agreements, willingness to use import duties, industrial support, investment in infrastructure, and support for unionization.

The UK election, set to be held this Thursday, brings to the fore the possibility of a potential change in government policies that can have an impact on various aspects of the economy. However, everything hinges on the outcome of the polls. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, a financial information and analytics firm, the impacts the election could pose include the UK's trade agreements, willingness to use import duties, industrial support, investment in infrastructure, and support for unionization.

The Conservative Party and the Labour Party have largely similar strategies in these aspects, including trade deals and investment support, the financial information and analytics firm said. The smaller parties may become relevant in a coalition government, with differing positions on EU relations, it asserted. Trade relations with the US will be partly a function of the November presidential and congressional elections.

"A transactional approach to avoiding tariffs may be needed in industrial goods given the US accounted for 20.9 per cent of UK exports of cars and trucks, 16.4 per cent of aerospace parts and 23.8 per cent of construction and goods handling machines in the past 12 months," said the analysis. The Conservative Party, which has been in power in the United Kingdom for around 15 years, faces a mounting task while heading into the general elections under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's leadership, with most polls predicting the return of a Labour government in the country for the first time since 2010.

A record number of candidates - more than 4,000 - are campaigning for the July 4 general election across the country. Economic stagnation, a housing crisis, the cost of living, immigration and foreign policy concerns are among the major issues in these elections.

India, a key partner of the UK, is actively in talks for a trade deal. Union Minister Piyush Goyal has said recently that India is actively working on the process of free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with many countries and expressed confidence of fast progress with the United Kingdom, irrespective of the result of the British elections.

The thirteenth round of negotiations for the UK-India Free Trade Agreement took place from the September 18 to December 15, 2023. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak had last month expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between the two countries.

They held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 50th Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) in Apulia, Italy last month. (ANI)

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