India Imports

The decision to give a second term to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reflects broad recognition of her exceptional leadership and strategic vision for the future of the WTO

Ahead of his party coming to power, a GOP lawmaker has demanded a robust tariffs on Indian ceramic tile imports claiming that the tile manufacturing industry in his state has been negatively impacted by the unfair and uncompetitive trade practices of Indian exporters, threatening good-paying manufacturing jobs in Tennessee. Tennessee jobs are at risk due to India's unfair and uncompetitive trade practices in the ceramic tile market, Congressman John Rose said after sending a letter in this regard to the outgoing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Tennessee's manufacturers deserve a fair shake on the world stage, he said, adding that India's underhanded subsidisation and dumping of ceramic tile is upending the domestic market and hemming in American manufacturers. The Department of Commerce should use the tools at its disposal to aggressively counteract these nefarious trade practices to protect Tennessee jobs and domestic manufacturing, he said. In May, the department announced ...

Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has expressed concerns over rising imports of virgin fibre paperboard from countries like China and Chile, saying that below-cost shipments are hitting local producers and threatening their investments. The IPMA said that imports of virgin fibre paperboard (VFP), mainly used as packaging material for pharma, FMCG, and cosmetics products, have grown more than three-fold to 21,233 tonnes per month in the first six months of 2024-25 compared to the average 6,337 tonnes per month in 2021-22. "In August and September of the current fiscal, imports have been over 30,000 tonnes per month, which is over 20 per cent of the total domestic demand," IPMA said in a statement while demanding a level-playing field for local manufacturers. The situation is getting exacerbated by the rising imports from China and Chile and the impending threat of large-scale imports from Indonesia due to the recent capacity expansion of 1.2 million tonnes per annum mainl

Irritants persist for MOOWR units, although over five years have passed since the introduction of MOOWR 2019 regulations

The caveat assumes significance in context of the govt's announcement of its plan in Aug 2023 to issue licences for import of select IT hardware products to reduce the country's dependence on China

Trade deficit widens to $27 bn as imports hit a high

China was India's top import source with USD 65.89 billion, a 9.8 per cent year-on-year increase, worth of inbound shipments during the April-October period of this fiscal, according to the commerce ministry data. Exports to China, however, dipped by 9.37 per cent to USD 8 billion. During the period, the US emerged as the top export destination for the country with outbound shipments increasing by 6.31 per cent to USD 47.24 billion. During the period, the top 10 import sources of India were China, Russia, the UAE, the US, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Korea, Switzerland and Singapore, the data showed. Imports from Russia rose by 8.85 per cent to USD 38.8 billion during April-October this fiscal from USD 35.65 billion a year ago. Similarly, the inbound shipments from the UAE rose by 55.12 per cent to USD 38.64 billion from USD 24.9 billion in the first seven months of the last fiscal. During the period, the top 10 export destinations of the country were the US, the UAE, the ...

Two newly inaugurated units will manufacture important molecules used in several common antibiotics

The government's policy decision aims to avoid hurting the local industry by imposing higher import duty on key raw materials or intermediate goods from the trade bloc

IES is an interest subvention scheme, under which benefits in the interest rates charged by the banks are given to the exporters on their pre and post shipment rupee export credits

China has been among India's top two trade partners for close to over a decade, although New Delhi's import dependency on Beijing has been high as compared to exports

Netherlands, US, UK see positive growth despite muted global demand

Standard operating procedure will take into account strategy towards modern FTA issues such as environment, labour, and digital trade

The country's target of installing 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030 may push solar equipment import bill to about USD 30 billion per year and increase dependence on Chinese goods, think tank GTRI said in a report on Sunday. It said developing a self-reliant solar manufacturing industry in India will require significant investment to create an integrated supply chain, especially in areas like polysilicon and wafer production. Without this, India may continue to face high import costs and struggle to meet its renewable energy goals. India installed 15 GW of solar capacity in 2023-24, raising the total to 90.8 GW by September, compared to just 2.8 GW in 2014, it said. To meet the government's target of installing 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, India needs to significantly ramp up installations to 65-70 GW each year, with over 80 per cent of this target expected to come from solar power, according to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). "This target seems ambitious, ...

Rajagopalan answers readers' SME queries related to GST, export and import matters

The government on Sunday imposed import curbs on parts of pocket lighters with immediate effect, a move which would help encourage domestic manufacturing and cut dependence on their inbound shipments from China. "Import of parts of pocket lighters, gas fuelled, non-refillable or refillable lighters (cigarette lighters)... is restricted with immediate effect," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Imports of cigarette lighters, priced less than Rs 20, are already prohibited. The import ban is also there on pocket lighters, gas-fuelled, non-refillable or refillable. Last year, the government also issued mandatory quality standard norms for flame-producing lighters with a view to contain import of sub-standard goods and boost domestic manufacturing. Items under the quality control orders (QCO), cannot be produced, sold/traded, imported and stocked unless they bear the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) mark. During April-July this fiscal, import of lig

The government's policy flip-flops on restricting imports of laptops and similar products have increased business uncertainty and costs, think tank GTRI said on Wednesday. A decisive and consistent policy is crucial to encourage global technology companies to shift manufacturing units to India and build a robust electronics supply chain, it added. To promote local manufacturing and reduce reliance on China, the government must announce a stable and long-term policy, it noted. India, it said, is bound by the ITA-1 (information technology) agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and cannot raise import duties, leaving import restrictions as the primary tool for fostering domestic production. However, the repeated extensions of import authorisations and delays in implementing a clear Import Management System (IMS) have undermined these efforts, the think tank said. "A decisive, consistent policy is crucial to encourage global tech companies to shift manufacturing to India and

The import authorisation system, introduced in October 2023 to monitor imports, has already led to a decline in imports of seven IT hardware products, including laptops, personal computers, and tablet

Global steel industry is facing a major threat due to surge in steel exports, particularly from China at predatory prices

India's coal import rose by 40.56 per cent to 25.23 million tonne (MT) in July, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce platform mjunction services. The country's coal import was 17.95 MT in the corresponding month of previous fiscal. Coal import also rose to 100.48 MT in the April-July period of the ongoing fiscal from 89.11 MT a year ago, it said. mjunction MD & CEO Vinaya Varma said the import demand is likely to be buoyant in coming weeks, ahead of the festive season next month. "Imports of non-coking coal showed an uptrend amid softening of prices in the seaborne market. There, however, was a drop in coking coal volumes due to tepid demand from the steel mills," mjunction services said. Of the total imports in July, non-coking coal's share stood at 16.52 MT, against 10.16 MT imported in the same month a year ago. Coking coal import volume was 4.81 MT against 5.03 MT in July last fiscal. During the April-July period, non-coking coal import was higher at 65.64 MT compared