An estimated 45 per cent of India’s exports to the United States remain outside the purview of the additional 10-per cent Section 301 duty that the latter imposed recently, as per the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The USTR imposed an additional 10-per cent ad valorem duty on imports from India after investigating 60 economies for allegations of producing goods with forced labour.
This was a reduction from the 12.5-per cent duty proposed on June 2 this year. The final tariff on India was reduced after New Delhi introduced measures to prohibit imports produced wholly or partly using forced labour.
Due to sustained efforts by the Indian government, the country has been placed in the lower tier of additional tariffs under the final measures, providing a relative advantage to Indian exports in key sectors, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a press release.
Generic pharmaceuticals, smartphones, steel, aluminium and auto parts and certain other specified products continue to remain outside the scope of the additional 10-per cent duty.
The remaining 55 per cent of exports will attract the additional 10-per cent duty, where India’s tariff incidence is comparatively lower than that for most other economies covered by the investigation.
The textile-specific mechanism referenced in the final USTR measures is yet to be established and operationalised, and India continues to engage with the United States on this matter as part of the ongoing negotiations for the India-US bilateral trade agreement, added the release.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
