'Duty-free' hits a fifth of manufacturing imports, says WTO report

This, despite average tariffs being much higher than peers, says WTO report; officials call for need to scrutinise FTAs

Duty-free imports remain prominent in almost a fifth of inbound manufacturing categories, despite average tariffs in India being much higher than other major countries, a report by the World Trade Organization (WTO) has revealed.

As high as over 30 per cent of electrical machinery imports, 19 per cent of non-electrical machinery, and 18 per cent of various types of manufactured goods came to India as of 2018 through the duty-free route, according to the World Tariff Profile 2020.

While the government has since then gone on a tariff hike spree, officials feel the figures strengthen the case for deeper scrutiny