India is eligible for GSP benefits for about €11.24 billion (18%) of EU exports: Commerce Dept

GSP benefits allow beneficiary countries to export goods to the EU at duties lower than the MFN rates
| Photo Credit:
SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

India continues to be eligible for GSP benefits on exports worth €11.24 billion, which is about 18 per cent of India’s exports to the EU worth €62.2 billion (2023 figures), according to Commerce Ministry data shared on Friday.

Exports to the EU worth €1.66 billion of trade (2.66 per cent) is expected to graduate out of the preferential regime on January 1, 2026, the government noted. This would leave about 82 per cent of India’s trade with the EU (as per 2023 data) outside the GSP regime as on January 1, 2026. 

New GSP pact

“Under the new GSP treatment, agricultural lines are not graduated. In the non-agricultural sector, only leather has been reinstated,” the government note pointed out.

The suspension of EU preferences for India covers 13 specific GSP sections such as mineral products, chemicals, plastics, rubber, textiles, ceramic products, glass and glassware, pearls and precious metals, iron, steel and articles of iron and steel, base metals, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical machinery and equipment, railway or tramway locomotives, motor vehicles, bicycles, aircraft and spacecraft, ships and boats, the note observed.

GSP benefits allow beneficiary countries to export goods to the EU at duties lower than the MFN rates (regular import duties imposed on all countries). 

“India’s graduation over time is on account of increasing competitiveness of its exports,” the government said.

In an analysis of the GSP benefits for India shared on Thursday, trade research body GTRI had underlined that concessions were suspended for 87 per cent of India’s exports to the EU while it continued for 13 per cent of exports. Losing benefits in items such as textiles would benefit competing countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, which continued to be eligible it said.

“The scope of the EU’s withdrawal of tariff preferences from India is spelled out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1909, adopted on September 24, 2025. The regulation explicitly lists the sectors for which the European Union has suspended GSP benefits on Indian exports for the 2026–2028 period… The logic is straightforward: the EU would not have formally “suspended” GSP benefits for these sectors unless such preferences existed in the first place,” GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava told businessline.

If anyone believes this reading is incorrect, the burden of clarity lies with Brussels, he said. “Brussels  must specify, at the tariff-line level, exactly which products have lost GSP benefits during 2026–2028. Without such precision, the notification creates ambiguity for exporters, policymakers, and investors,” he emphasised.

Published on January 23, 2026