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ITPD EXAMPKESyre imports from China to enjoy duty sops

K.R. Srivats

New Delhi , Jan. 1

DOMESTIC tyre manufacturers will have to contend with tyre imports from China atmuch lower protection levels from January 1.

The Finance Ministry has formally included China in the list of countries (Sri Lanka,Bangladesh and South Korea) that can avail themselves of preferential rates of Customsduty on certain specified products under the Bangkok Agreement.

The agreement, signed in 1975, refers to an initiative under the United Nations Economicand Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) for trade expansion throughexchange of tariff concessions among members.

China formally acceded to it in April 2000.

Mr D. Ravindran, Director-General of the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association(ATMA), told Business Line that the five per cent concession in Customs duty woulddefinitely result in more imports of truck and bus tyres into India from China.

"This would act as an impetus for more imports. The prices of Chinese truck tyres are at

least 15-20 per cent lower at the marketplace. Even though there may be the issue oflower quality in Chinese tyres, this price level is something which we may not be able tomatch."

Currently, under the agreement, tyre and tube imports from South Korea, Bangladesh andSri Lanka attract 20 per cent duty against the basic duty of 25 per cent applicable on tyreimports. Now, tyres and inner tubes can be imported from China at 20 per cent duty.

In June last year, the Cabinet had endorsed the move by India and China to offer tariffconcessions to each other under the agreement.

The Government has been maintaining that China's accession to the agreement wouldwork to India's advantage.

China had offered tariff concessions to India on 182 items (corresponding to 217 tarifflines) as per the International Trade Classification Harmonised System nomenclature.

These include chemicals, leather and textile products and diamonds.

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India has granted concessions on 106 items, corresponding to 188 tariff lines, to othermember countries and China.

The items for which preferential duty has been specified for imports from Bangladesh,Sri Lanka and South Korea include ceramic tiles, cocoa beans, carded and combed wool,

toys, paper and paper boards, natural rubber, molasses from sugar extract, pneumatictyres, inner tubes, natural rubber and rubber mats.India, Mercosur start preferential trade dealThu Jun 4, 2009 8:37pm ISTEmail | Print | Share | Single Page[-] Text [+]

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and South American trade bloc Mercosur have started apreferential trade agreement that offers duty concession on hundreds of productcategories, the government said on Thursday.

The agreement, which came into effect at the start of June, covers 450 types of importsinto India and 452 types of Indian exports. It covers products ranging from food andpharmaceuticals to chemicals and machinery.

Mercosur is a trading bloc including Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

India's exports to Mercosur countries were at $2.9 billion, or less than 2 percent of totalexports in 2007/08, while it imported goods worth $1.9 billion, trade ministry datashowed.

India's exports shrunk by a third in April from a year earlier, their seventh straight fall inas many months, as a downturn in developed economies hit demand.

On Wednesday, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said Indian firms need to push sales inmarkets that were not in recession and explore markets in Latin America, east and centralEurope to boost exports.

Under the agreement, India will allow duty-free imports on 21 product categories, 20percent concessions on 336 product line and 10 percent on 93 items, the trade ministrysaid, with giving further details.