US tariffs and a race for new bilateral FTAs and PTAs have once again left the global trade in a state of turmoil, with overall volume numbers in certain select areas falling by almost one-third from a historic high in 2019. With WTA’s authority at its weakest, perhaps since its inception, a lack of trust in the organisation to enforce cum manage a rule based free and fair global trade environment seems to have unleashed a rush on part of leading economies to instead watch their own self-interest and in protecting the same by directly taking matters in their own hands: Signing agreements with countries where they feel the potential to grow trade is optimal through a history of natural or geographic synergies. The recently exclusive India-UK trade agreement, signed only a few weeks back, is a good example of such a rush of initiatives. Interestingly, the India-UK FTA deal is the fifth of its kind between the two countries in the last four years, which by itself points to the fast-changing global trade dynamics and a need for constant revisions to keep pace with the same. More importantly, this legally binding India-UK CETA, first and foremost, provides a........

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