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The customs duty reduction announced in the Budget on products such as motorcycles and synthetic flavouring essences would benefit American exports, economic think tank GTRI said on Sunday. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that despite the repeated criticism of India as the biggest tariff abuser and tariff king by the Trump-administration, the country's Budget has introduced significant tariff reductions on multiple products, many of which benefit the US exports. "With key tariff cuts on technology, automobiles, industrial inputs, and waste imports, India appears to be taking steps toward facilitating trade even as the global trade environment remains tense. Whether these reductions will alter Washington's view of India's trade practices or become a point of contention in the US election cycle remains to be seen," it added. Among the key tariff reductions, India lowered the duty on fish hydrolysate for the manufacturing of aquatic feed from 15 per cent to 5 per cent,
Exporters on Thursday sought a fund of Rs 750 crore for three years to tap USD 25 billion export potential in the US, aiming to seize potential opportunities that may arise as the US President-elect, Donald Trump, has threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods. In its pre-Budget meeting with the finance ministry, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwani Kumar has also demanded extension of the five per cent Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES). "A marketing scheme to focus on the US with a corpus of Rs 250 crore per year (Rs 750 crore overall) for three years may be launched to generate additional exports of USD 25 billion," Kumar said. He said that higher tariffs on China can create a significant opportunity for Indian exports, particularly in sectors where China has previously been a dominant supplier. Based on a study undertaken by FIEO, India can replace China in sectors like electronics and electrical equipment (USD 10 billion additional export
The federal government is looking to ban importation and exportation of a species of a tropical fish that conservation groups have long said is exploited by the pet trade. The fish is the Banggai cardinalfish, a small striped saltwater fish native to Indonesia. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration listed the species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2016, saying that the main threats to the fish included harvest for ornamental aquariums. The agency proposed on Tuesday to apply prohibitions under the Endangered Species Act that would make it unlawful to import or export the species in the United States. The proposal followed a 2021 petition from conservation groups that said the fish needs the ban to have a chance at survival. The US imports an average of 120,000 of the fish every year, members of the groups said Wednesday. The species have declined in number by as much as 90 per cent since the 1990s because of exploitation in the aquarium trade, they .