Indonesia plans to extend the duties by two years till November 2026, a move that may further hurt India’s exports of the product to the island nation. The safeguard duties were first imposed in 2018 and India’s exports of ceramic products to Indonesia have declined 65% between FY20 and FY24. “The result of the consultations was inconclusive. India reserves its right to request compensation as per the WTO Agreement on Safeguards,” said an official.
Safeguard duties are custom tariffs that can be imposed temporarily by a WTO member to protect a specific domestic industry from an increase in imports of any product which is causing or threatening to cause harm to the industry.
Indonesia proposes to impose a 12.72% safeguard duty in the first year and then reduce it to 12.44% in the second year, a move that will hurt Indian exports.
New Delhi has informed the WTO that the two sides met at the end of August consultations and it submitted a written enquiry to Indonesia seeking clarification on specific aspects of the proposed extension.
Content Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com