The illogicality of raising import duties

Several items, which now attract higher levies, have seen a decline or slowdown in imports

Last Wednesday, the Union finance ministry announced higher import duties on a host of goods. The objectives of the decision were to “curb imports of certain items” and narrow the current account deficit (CAD). The ministry also noted that the value of imports of goods, whose duties were raised, was only about $13 billion or 2.8 per cent of India’s total imports in 2017-18.

An analysis of the ministry’s statement shows that the range of the increase in the basic customs duty on 19 broad categories of goods was quite steep - by about 25 per cent on footwears, by 33