India to thrash out textile protectionist measures with Turkey

23 Mar '10

2 min read

In response to Turkey levying protectionist duties on imports of cotton textiles from India, Indian officials will hold discussions with their Turkish counterparts on April 6, 2010 in Switzerland, in which the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will act as mediator.

Affected by the global economic downturn, India's exports to Turkey, which in 2007 added up to USD 239 million, came down to a meagre USD 112 million during January to September 2008, with no signs of reversal.

The duty on all cotton textiles products imported from India including yarn was hiked from five percent to 15 percent. Though the meeting scheduled for April 6 is to only focus on Turkish import duties, India is also looking forward to thrash out similar issues with Egypt, where too, import duty has seen a massive hike and was doubled to 30 percent.

Bangladesh, which is the biggest importer of India's cotton textile, has also announced that it too is in view of hiking the duty in question, with a possibility that Peru and Brazil would also follow suit.

In case if India fails to reach an agreement, so as to gain free access in Turkey's market through removal of this additional duty, there are possibilities that the matter will be taken before the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB).

Fibre2fashion News Desk

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