EU–India FTA: wine tariffs climb down from the 150% cliff
Commission has sent signature and conclusion proposals to the Council. EC agri table: Indian wine duties from 150% to 20% (premium) / 30% (medium). Deal cuts or reduces tariffs on ~96% of EU goods exports; ~€4bn/year duty savings claimed — still needs Council, EP and India ratification.
A 150% wall does not fall overnight — but the paperwork to lower it is now in Brussels.
EU–India free-trade negotiations closed on 27 January 2026. Around 11 September the Commission sent the Council its proposals for signature and conclusion. The pact would eliminate or reduce tariffs on about 96% of EU goods exports to India and is billed at roughly €4 billion a year in duty savings. It is not yet law: Council authorisation, European Parliament consent and India’s own ratification still sit ahead.
For wine, the Commission’s agri-food table is blunt. Duties long stuck at 150% would move to 20% in the premium range and 30% in the medium range. Spirits and beer also soften in the same package. Separate talks on geographical indications continue beside the FTA — a second track for names that need legal teeth, not only cheaper paperwork.
Mini-concept: a tariff cliff is a shelf price written by customs. Cut the cliff and the same bottle can sit closer to celebration budgets without the producer changing a single vineyard row.
Keep: when an EU wine looks newly reachable in India, ask whether the 150% wall has actually fallen — or only the proposal to lower it has left the Commission.
Remember: 150% → 20% premium / 30% medium; ~96% of EU goods; ~€4bn/year claimed; closed 27 Jan 2026; Council proposals ~11 Sep; still needs Council, EP, India.
Source: European Commission