Our Coimbatore Bureau adds: While withdrawal of duty benefit on Indian products under GSP (Generalised System of Preference) by the US will not have a big impact on the ready-made garment (RMG) category, it will erode the trade, said Vice-Chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, A Sakthivel.

The Council plans to take up the issue with the Ministry of Commerce to continue to provide the US GSP benefits to India, Sakthivel said adding that the trade would be impacted to the extent of $17 million as the product cost for the buyer will increase by 7 per cent, given that China is the main competitor in these categories.

With the loss of trade, proportionate loss of employment cannot be ruled out as these products are manufactured by SMEs.

He further explained that there were 15 products under HSN 61 and 62 in RMG category, and these contributed to imports worth $17.97 million from India.

The MFN tariff on the 15 products varied from 0.86 per cent to 14.60 per cent, on which India got duty access with 100 per cent Margin of Preference.

(It may be noted that these 15 products contribute to less than 0.5 per cent of India’s apparel exports.

On the basis of current trade with the US, AEPC has figured that 11 products would have negligible impact on the country’s apparel exports to the US.

The impact would be high on women and girls dresses (not knitted or crocheted), containing 70 per cent or more by weight of silk or silk waste. “This therefore should be retained,” the AEPC Vice Chairman said, citing some more products such as gloves, mittens for sports use (including ski and snow mobile gloves) of synthetic fibre, shawls, scarves, mufflers, mantillas, veils - containing 70 per cent or more of silk or silk waste, where the impact could be moderate and hence be considered to retain

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