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Bangladesh will again urge India to withdraw the anti-dumping duty (ADD) on locally produced jute and jute goods during a commerce secretary-level meeting between Dhaka and New Delhi today.
The export of jute and jute goods has been performing poorly over the past few years since the Indian government imposed the ADD ranging between $19 and $352 per tonne on Bangladesh’s jute yarn, hessian and bags.
The ADD was implemented from January 2017 for five years.
Bangladesh’s exports are faring well while the global supply chain continues to recover from the severe fallouts of Covid-19 but one of the most promising sectors, namely jute, is failing.
For instance, between July and February of the current fiscal year, the export of jute and jute goods fell by 7.34 per cent to $799.42 million. India was a major export destination for Bangladeshi jute and jute goods before it imposed the ADD.
“Our main demand in the meeting is to remove the ADD from Bangladeshi jute and jute goods in Indian markets,” said Tapan Kanti Ghosh, senior secretary to the commerce ministry of Bangladesh.
Ghosh is now in New Delhi to join his Indian counterpart, BVR Subrahmanyam, in the commerce secretary-level meeting.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which both sides want to sign, will not be high on the agenda.
This is because both Bangladesh and India have already discussed the CEPA issues at the study level last year, Ghosh added.
Bangladesh and India have been conducting studies to ink the agreement to facilitate bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.
India is Bangladesh’s second-largest import destination after China with annual imports from the neighbouring nation amounting to more than $8 billion through formal channels.
On the other hand, Bangladesh exports goods worth nearly $1.5 billion each year to India via formal channels.
Dhaka will also urge New Delhi to accept the testing certification of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) to increase shipments to India, Ghosh said.
In addition, the issue of transporting goods via railway between the two countries will be discussed.
“Our main target is to increase the export and import of goods to and from Indian markets as we see the country as a market with big potential for us,” Ghosh added.
India wants improvement of the infrastructures at land ports along with the bordering areas of both countries to facilitate trade.
Bangladesh has been enjoying duty-free access to India for all goods except 24 alcoholic and beverage items under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement since November 2011. As a result, exports to Indian markets have been growing steadily.
However, the shipment of garment items has been facing a 12.50 per cent countervailing duty as the Indian government wants to protect its domestic market by levying the duty.
Bangladesh shipped garment items worth $365.95 million in the July-December period, up 58.07 per cent year-on-year.
(TDS)
