India’s recent move to remove additional ‘retaliatory’ duty on eight products from the United States, including apples and walnuts, would not have any negative impact on the domestic producers, the government has claimed. The move would, in fact, result in competition in the premium market segment, ensuring better quality at better prices for consumers, especially for apples, a senior government official said.
Peeyush Kumar, additional secretary in the Commerce Department, stated: “There were certain concerns that were being raised on the mutually agreed solution that has come in, more specific to seven-eight agriculture products where we had levied additional import duties in retaliation to the steel and aluminum measures [imposed by the US].”
It had lost a certain market that was taken up by other countries like Iran, New Zealand, Chile, and Turkey. By revoking this additional duty, the US will be able to compete with these markets,” Kumar added.
Besides this, US apples also attract a minimum import price (MIP) of Rs 50 per kg (€0.55) for imports from all countries except Bhutan to protect against the dumping of low-quality apples and from any predatory pricing in the Indian market.
Source: rediff.com