India Challenges US 25 per cent Import Tax on Range of Jewelry Items
May 12, 21
(IDEX Online) - Industry bosses in India have been challenging a US proposal to charge 25 per cent import duty on many items jewelry.
It's widely seen as retaliation India's new two per cent digital service tax, which targets Amazon and other non-Indian e-tailers.
Representatives of India's gem and jewelry sectors voiced their concerns about the import duty at a United States Trade Representative (USTR) hearing, which was held virtually on Monday.
Proposed new tariffs would affect a wide range of 40 products from shrimps and cigarette papers to lacy bras.
Seventeen of those on the list are jewelry items including gold and silver articles, precious and semi-precious stones and cultured pearls.
"The timing could not have been worse for imposing this tariff on Indian jewellery exporters, who are already reeling under the impact of the pandemic," said Colin Shah, chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
He said China - which has emerged as India's main competitor on the world jewelry market - stood most to gain from the move.
Shah (pictured at virtual hearing) was among a number of industry leaders who made representations to the USTR.