The announcement regarding the increase in basic customs duty from 10 per cent to 20 per cent on specified garments has brought cheer to garment exporters in the Tirupur knitwear cluster.

Hailing the announcement, Raja M Shanmugham, President, Tirupur Exporters' Association, said the hike in the basic customs duty on import of 23 knitted garment items and one knitted fabric would help protect the domestic textile industry.

The association has been appealing for swift action in this regard as textile product imports from countries such as China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia had increased significantly.

“Textile imports grew at a CAGR of 17 per cent in the last five years and last year alone, readymade garment imports increased by almost Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 4,983 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 3,994 crore in 2016-17.

The association has impressed upon the government the need to restrict import of textile products and prepared a white paper detailing the threat from China, with Chinese companies setting up factories in countries bordering India to take advantage of labour, low wages and customs exemption available to these countries in EU and Canada.

He specifically noted that under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement, specified garment items imported into India from Bangladesh were also exempted.

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