The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 17 MARCH, 2018

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

‘Synergy between cotton and synthetic fabrics need of the hour’

Coimbatore: Synergy between cotton fabric and synthetic fabric is the need of the hour for the textile industry, said Kavita Gupta, textile commissioner, government of India, on Friday. Gupta was speaking at the inauguration of the regional office of the Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) in the building of Southern India Mills Association here. The presence of these organisations at the same venue would benefit both, she said. “The country’s textile sector is a $150 billion market with $110 billion domestic textile production and $40 billion in exports,” she said and added that the cotton deficit should be bridged by synthetic textiles. “We need at least 9 billion kilograms of synthetic fabric to meet the demand,” she said. She also said a lot of blends were coming in textiles. “Even if a textile fabric blend has 45% cotton and 55% synthetic fabric it is categorised as synthetic fabric,” she said Gupta said a mega textile expo in Bengaluru has brought the entire textile value chain in one place. “Textile producers from Coimbatore have also been asking for a mega textile expo. We have allocated some funds for it. If people come together and approach us, we would release a share of the funds. If the rest of the amount is raised locally, an expo can be planned for the region,” Gupta said.

Source: The Times of India

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Ministry targets doubling of textile production by 2025

The Textile Ministry is targeting to double textile production and trade to $300 billion by 2025, Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta said here on Friday. With the domestic production of textiles at $110 billion and exports and trade at $40 billion, the country's production of textiles at present is worth $150 billion. “We are targeting to grow this to $300 billion by 2025,” she said. To reach the target, the productivity and yield levels of both cotton fibre and synthetic will have to be stepped up. Cotton fibre production stands at 6.5 billion kg and synthetic at 2.5 billion kg, taking the total fibre availability to 9 billion kg. This has to double to keep pace with the 2025 textile production target, she said, adding that the “journey of cotton and synthetic blends would go hand in hand in the years to come”. Gupta was in the city to inaugurate the regional office of The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council at the Southern India Mills Association premises here.Responding to a query on cotton scenario, she said, “we are extremely comfortable. Domestic price of the fibre is lower than international prices. Indian cotton has the highest intrinsic value,” she said and appealed to the trade to ensure that the fibre is contamination-free and not adulterated. “Only clean fibre can be sold at a premium,” she added. On export of textiles, she said the increase was not much and requested the industry to look at value-addition and technical textiles.

Source: Business Line

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2.5 lakh new jobs created in garments, made-ups segment

Coimbatore: About 2.5 lakh new jobs have been created in the garments and made-ups sector since the government announced a relief package for them in June 2016, Union textile commissioner Kavita Gupta has said. The government aims to double the annual revenue of the textile industry in the country to $300 billion by 2025, she said The union government showered the garments sector with a host of benefits including bearing employer’s contribution to the employee provident fund (EPF) for new workers who are earning less than Rs 15,000 per month during the first three years. The government also increased the overtime hours from three hours to eight hours per week. EPF was also made optional for workers earning less than Rs 15,000 per month. “Job creation is gaining momentum in the garments and made-ups segment,” Gupta, who was here to inaugurate the ‘Regional Office of the Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC)’ at SIMA (Southern India Mills’ Association) premises in the city here on Friday, said. The readymade garment industry is the largest contributor to the country’s textile exports and employs about 12 million persons now. A calculation showed that garment makers were able to get benefits to the tune of Rs 55 lakh for every Rs 1 crore in new investments committed under the package, the textile commissioner said. The provision of 240 days employment per year for workers under Section 80JJAA of the Income Tax Act was relaxed to 150 days per year for the garment industry. The capital subsidy under amended TUFS (technology upgradation fund scheme) was increased to 25% from 15%. A new scheme was introduced to refund the state levies which were not refunded earlier. The move cost the exchequer Rs 5,500 crore but industry officials said that it helped in boosting the competitiveness of Indian textile exports in foreign markets. The country’s textile industry currently generates about $150 billion in annual revenues — $110 billion from the domestic market and $40 billion through exports, Gupta said. The industry should increase production of synthetic clothes manifold to achieve the target of doubling revenues, she said. While the annual production of cotton textiles is pegged at 6.5 billion kgs, about 2.5 billion kgs of synthetic textiles are made now, she stated. “We have to increase production by five times to achieve the target,” the textile commissioner said. “We will be able to produce 8 billion kgs of cotton textiles by improving productivity in units and yield levels. For the remaining, only synthetic (textiles) will be able to fulfill,” she said.

Source: The Times of India

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Government woos Indian experts in textile, scraps work permit fees in sector

High commissioner to Kenya Suchita Durai makes her address during the Trade and Imvestments promotion event dubbed 'Kenya's Big Four Agenda and India's Partnership' at the Capital Club,Nairobi. The Government has moved to woo Indian expatriates into the textile sector by scraping the $2000 (Sh200,000) work permit fees for foreign workers in this sector. Speaking during the launch of a two-day bilateral trade and investment promotion event between Kenya and India, Cabinet Secretary for Industry, Trade and Co-operatives Adan Mohamed said skilled foreign workers in the textile sector will by end of this month be exempt from paying this fee in a move aimed at revamping the moribund textile sector. The workers will enjoy this incentive for two years, after which they will start paying work permit fees of $100 (Sh10,000). “We are working towards improving our competitiveness and one of the key things we need to do is make it easy for companies and those skills to come in Kenya,” Mohamed said. The theme for the two-day event that will include panel discussions is: “Kenya’s Big Four Agenda & India’s Partnership in Realising this Vision.” Textile is one of the sectors President Uhuru Kenyatta hopes will help realise one of the pillars of Big Four- job creation. Mohamed said while emphasis on expatriate skills will be on upstream like in spinning, they are keen on reviving their entire cotton sector. “Most of the experts that will be talking about will be at the at tail-end, not production,” said Mohamed. The Government through Rift Valley Textile Mills (Rivatex EA), which received Sh3 billion financing from the Government of India for technology upgrade, will be the first buyer of the cotton produced by farmers.  “Rivatex will then process it into a fabric and sell it in the domestic market,” added Mohamed. The Indian High Commissioner to Kenya Suchitra Durai confirmed that Rivatex will be receiving the first batch of these equipment from Luxury Machine Works Limited.

Source: The Standard

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Foreign Trade Policy review last year stressed on phasing out export sops

Long before the US lashed out at India for exceeding the time period for giving subsidies to its exporters, the government had taken cognisance of the fact that the existing export promotion schemes would need to be phased out and replaced with WTO compatible schemes in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) released three years ago. The policy statement and its midterm review done late last year, also reiterated that the commerce department would re-calibrate the export promotion efforts to  efforts to “more fundamental measures” rather than incentives and subsidies alone. As per the policy statement of 2015, some sectors may be affected and would require rationalisation of support over a period of time. The rethinking on subsides has become critical at this juncture as the US has challenged practically almost India’s entire export programmes at the WTO claiming them to harm American workers. It has cited the Agreement on Subsidies and the Countervailing Measures (ASCM) of the WTO that envisages the eventual phasing out of export subsidies. The agreement provides a period of eight years for graduating countries (least developed and developing) which cross the $1,000-mark at 1990 exchange rate to phase out export subsidies. However, such countries need to stop all export incentives if per capita GNI of such a country crosses $1,000 for three consecutive years. “The phasing out and eventual elimination of agricultural export subsidies is also one of the key elements of the Doha Development Agenda,” the commerce and industry ministry said in the Foreign Trade Policy “...the existing export promotion schemes would need to be phased out and replaced with WTO compatible schemes,” the policy said.

POINTER FOR FUTURE

Both the policy and its review said that “this is a pointer to the direction that export promotion efforts will have to take in future”. “All schemes contingent on income tax concessions will have to be scrapped but those which give indirect tax exemptions to manufacturing products meant for exports, can be tweaked,” said an expert on WTO matters.The FTP review was specific in stating the need to streamline and finetune programmes such as the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) to more precisely target the distortion being addressed.

Source: The Economic Times

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India’s GST among most complex in world, and it is 0% tax rate that is hurting the idea

India’s GST regime with “higher tax rates and a large number of tax slabs” is one of the most complex among 115 nations with a similar tax system, the World Bank has said. However, what they also noted was that the zero percent tax rate in the new indirect tax regime is compromising the logic of the GST. The World Bank said that in addition to the number tax rates, the extent of exemptions and sales at a zero rate is a critical design parameter for a GST.  “While exemptions allow easing the tax burden on items with a high social value, such as healthcare, they also reduce the tax base and compromise the logic of the GST,” the World Bank said. Currently, India levies 0% GST tax rate on goods such as vegetables, food and services such as healthcare. The 0% tax rate reintroduce cascading where an exempted good or service is an input into another taxable good or service, create incentives for vertical integration to keep the exempt status; and raise compliance costs by making it necessary to allocate input taxes between exempt and non-exempt output when manufactured or traded together. “The impact of declaring various goods as zero-rated does not only depend on the number of products exempt, but also on the revenue generated from each product,” the World Bank added. In a comparison with 115 nations that also follow the GST system, the World Bank said that India’s highest tax rate of 28% is the second highest. With four non-zero GST rates — 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28% — India’s GST regime is among the nations with the highest number of different rates in the world. The World Bank also pointed out that lack of clarity on discontinuation of local taxes was also one of the reasons for disruptions. Tamil Nadu reduced the Local Body Entertainment Tax from 10% to 8% but it is still imposed above the 28% GST making it the state with the highest tax on movies and a double taxation. Similarly, Maharashtra increased motor vehicles tax to compensate for losses due to the GST, the World Bank said. After a 17-year-long deliberation, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented by the Narendra Modi government from July 1 last year. The idea of GST was ‘one nation, one tax’ but the government on multiple occasions said that in a diverse country like India one tax was not practical. “While international experience suggests that the adjustment process can affect economic activity for multiple months, the benefits of the GST are likely to outweigh its costs in the long run,” the World Bank concluded.

Source: Financial Express

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GST collection to cross Rs 900 billion after April, says CBEC official

The collection of goods and services tax (GST) will see buoyancy from April onwards and will cross Rs 900 billion per month, a top official from the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said. In January, the collection slipped marginally to Rs 863 billion from Rs 867 billion in December. “Hopefully, in the coming financial year, we should be seeing buoyancy (in GST collection). Those who did not come into the fray should come into the fray. Enforcement action will take place and you will get more people on board. I am very confident that it (GST collection) will go above Rs 900 billion (a month),” CBEC chairperson Vanaja Sarna told reporters on Friday. She said the initial hiccups related to the GST have been settling now. “A lot has been settled. All technologies that are required are there,” Sarna said. In order to quickly sanction pending refunds to exporters, the CBEC is observing ‘GST refund fortnight’ across the country from March 15 to 29.

Source: Business Standard

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Garment university to be set up in Bengaluru: minister

A garment university will be set up in Bengaluru, India’s minister for fertilizers and parliamentary affairs Ananth Kumar announced recently. Addressing a womens’ rally in the city, he said the university will be set up in Bommanahalli, which has many garment factories. Union textiles minister Smriti Irani has already approved the proposal, he said. Irani, who inaugurated the rally, said the central government has allocated Rs 6,000 crore for the welfare of garment workers and made it mandatory for all garment factory owners to set up an internal complaints committee to look into instances of harassment of women employees, according to a report in a top South Indian English-language daily. (DS)

Source: Fibre2Fashion

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Textiles ministry pitches for GI tag for more Bengali sarees

The textiles committee of the union ministry of textiles has asked the various weaving communities of West Bengal to go for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection. So far, only three types of sarees from West Bengal - Baluchari, Santipur and Dhaniakhali have obtained the GI tags. "We are asking the different weaving communities of West Bengal to go for GI registration. Some of them are the weavers of Bengali Jamdani, Begumpuri and Bengali Tangail sarees which have huge export markets", deputy director of the Textiles Committee of the textiles ministry T K Rout told PTI. The weavers of scarves and stoles of Fulia should also apply for GI registration, he said. Rout said that once these weaving communities get the GI tag, there IPR would be protected and legal action could be initiated against those who were not bonafide claimaints of these textile products. "Even the export markets of these products would be protected", he said. Rout said "GI is IPR which provides protection to the products which have origins in a particular geographical location and different from patents and trademarks".It also gives protection to those weaving communities from counterfeit claims by others, he said adding that the ministry was working to facilitate this process. As of date, 270 products of the country had been registered under the GI Act, out of which 151 of those belonged to the textiles and handicrafts segment.

Source:  Business Standard

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Declining price worries cotton farmers

Cotton farmers in parts of the district are worried about the declining market price. During the last season, one quintal of cotton fetched price ranging between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 5,500. But, in the current season, a quintal of cotton had a price from Rs. 3,700 to Rs. 4,200. Crops were sown in October anticipating rainfall in parts of Ottapidaram, Kovilpatti, Kayathar, Vilathikulam, Pudur and Ettayapuram blocks, A. Varadharajan, a farmer from Ayan Vadamalapuram, Ettayapuram Block, said here on Tuesday. He said high yield of this crop triggered a decline in the market. The yield started in the middle of February. Unlike the last season, when the cash crop yielded about three to four quintals per acre, seven quintals per acre had been witnessed this season. Most of the farmers cultivated this crop after sowing 'Bt cotton' variety, which resulted in high yield of this crop. Moreover, he said consistent spells of rain during the northeast monsoon season was also one of the reasons for the growing yield. Mr. Varadharajan said that the government should modernise the old cotton ginning factories existing under cooperative marketing societies in Pudur, Kovilpatti and Ettayapuram. The output from the old factories was not good enough when the produce was given for processing. Hence, he demanded the State government to allocate adequate funds in the upcoming budget to modernise these old factories with the latest technology. K.P. Perumal, district secretary, Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association, said the Cotton Corporation of India had fixed minimum support price for the produce in the interest of farmers. If the produce was procured at price below the fixation of minimum support price, officials from Agriculture Department should ensure that action was taken against those concerned.

Source: The Hindu

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High fibre: India cotton exports gather pace as global prices rally

MUMBAI: India's cotton exports have been gathering pace after global prices jumped to four-year highs, with traders in the world's top producer of the fibre signing contracts in the last three weeks to ship over 1 million bales, industry officials told Reuters. Increased supply from India could drag on the rally in international prices and would likely compete with shipments to Asia from exporters such as Australia, Brazil and the United States. "Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan are aggressively buying from us due to lower prices. We have freight advantage over others," said Chirag Patel, chief executive at India's Jaydeep Cotton Fibers Pvt Ltd. Indian cotton is being offered around 82 to 85 cents per lb on a cost and freight basis (C&F) to buyers in Bangladesh and Vietnam, compared to over 90 cents from the United Sates and Brazil. "There is continuous export demand at the current price level," said Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India (CAI). India could export more than 6 million bales in the current season ending on Sept. 30, up a fifth from previous estimates, Ganatra said. "In January, we were expecting India could end the season with exports of 5 million bales. Now even 6.5 million bales seem quite possible," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm. He declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media. Indian merchants have contracted to export 4.7 million bales so far this marketing year, of which nearly 3.5 million have already been shipped, industry officials and dealers said. The country exported 5.82 million bales of cotton last marketing year, according to data compiled by the state-run textile commissioner's office. A depreciation in the Indian rupee has also boosted exporter profits, stoking the appeal of sending cargoes abroad, dealers said. The upturn in exports marks a change from just a couple of months ago, when lower global cotton prices meant there was little incentive to ship overseas. Demand from Pakistan, which resumed imports from India in January after making no purchases in the previous quarter, has been strong and the country could take as much as 800,000 bales this year, said Patel at Jaydeep Cotton. India is likely to produce 36.2 million cotton bales in 2017/18, down 1.4 percent from an earlier estimate as the pink bollworm pest has hit some crops in key growing regions such as the western state of Maharashtra, said CAI's Ganatra. The nation's cotton stocks could fall to their lowest in 14 years at 2.2 million tonnes at the end of the 2017/18 season, sapped by higher exports and improvement in domestic consumption, CAI estimates.

Source:  The Economic Times

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23 Indian firms participate in Cairo textile expo

Twenty three Indian textile firms showcased a wide range of products at the Cairo Fashion and Tex Exhibition last week. The Indian pavilion at the fair, which concluded last week, was inaugurated by India's ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya, who said he was optimistic about the growing Egyptian market for Indian cotton yarn and other fabrics. The participation of Indian companies was organised by the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil), an apex textile chamber sponsored by the Indian Government, in association with the Embassy of India in Cairo, according to a news agency report. India exported around $342 million worth of textile and clothing products to Egypt in 2017. Cotton yarn was the dominant product in the export basket, accounting for $163 million, followed by man-made yarn fabrics at $121 million and cotton fabrics at $25 million.

Source : Fibre2fashion

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Rupee closes marginally down at 64.94 against US dollar

Strength in the dollar against other currencies overseas and a lower opening in domestic equities kept the pressure on the domestic unit. The rupee today closed marginally down at 64.94 against the US currency due to continued foreign fund outflows, weak trade data and expectations of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. The domestic unit opened lower at 64.95 per dollar as against yesterday’s close of 64.93 at the inter-bank foreign exchange on unabated foreign fund outflows.The domestic unit hovered between 64.85 and 64.99 during the day before ending at 64.94, down by 1 paisa.

Source: Financial Express

Kenya in collaboration with Chinese textile manufacturers to make clothes from fruits

Kenya’s textile industry will soon have a very rare raw material to convert it to favourable outcome as Kenya’s research team along with Chinese textile manufacturers has found a wild fruit Calotropis procera, which grows in arid regions (Baringo, Kajiado and Makueni) and after a research it was found to produce good quality fibre. This fibre is regarded as unique, surpassing the quality of cotton and silk. A Team of Researcher are spending time to explore the fruit’s fruitful results so that it can be domesticated and can be put alongside the cotton and silk. As per Dr. Alice Muchugi, a lead researcher, it can be a super fibre whose quality will fall between Cotton and Silk. In order to conduct the research scientists are buying the fruit at the price of Sh1,000 (USD 987). According to Joyce Kasyoki, a project manager at World Agroforestry Centre (Icraf), an agency coordinating the study, Calotropis procera from Makueni is of highest quality and that the quality of fibre can enhanced through genetic engineering and once it is done, the farmers are allowed to grow and sell the fruit in the market. Textile manufactures will soon have a new raw material to choose from alongside cotton, silk or wool after an ongoing study on Calotropis procera, a wild plant, returned favourable results.

Source: YNFX.

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Dull trading witnessed at cotton market

As buyers and sellers stayed away, dull and dreary conditions prevailed on the cotton market on Tuesday. Overall, the undertone was firm but the outlook uncertain as the market was directionless due to diminishing stocks and shortage of quality lint. According to market reports, no transactions were reported on the ready counter. At the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) did not change the spot rates, currently pegged at Rs7,400 per maund. High cotton prices are reportedly discouraging small spinners from making fresh booking from local market. Leading spinners are meeting their demand from imported cotton. On global front, the world leading cotton markets also suddenly turned inactive and prices generally moved lower. The New York, Indian and Chinese cotton markets closed easy. According to Cotton Association of India’s the crop assessment committee India has lowered cotton production figures for the third time to 30.62 million bales from the previous estimate of 30.67m bales. However, quantity of cotton exports has been increased from 5.5m bales from 6.0m bales.

Source: YNFX.

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Tariffs Could Target 100 Chinese Products (Including Apparel), Spark Retaliation From Europe

President Trump has made international trade one of the tenets of his platform since his presidential campaign for began. Following his election, the president has questioned the effectiveness of trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, NAFTA and more. Trump has brought up the idea of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Most recently, the president cited the trade deficit the U.S. currently has with China as a reason to impose tariffs on Chinese imports, specifically targeting technology and telecommunications, but causing ramifications for domestic apparel companies, as basics such as T-shirts and jeans are present on his list. A source with knowledge of the president and his administration's plans told Reuters that the tariffs could apply to up to 100 products. The report also claimed that the tariffs could apply to basic apparel items commonly imported, which has lobbyists for groups like the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) concerned. "We're not talking about fancy cashmere sweaters, Hun Quach, a lobbyist for RILA told Reuters. "We're talking about cotton T-shirts and jeans, and shoes that kids wear for back-to-school." This news is especially noteworthy as we've seen companies built on domestic manufacturing shift some operations abroad, like we saw with American Apparel after its restructure. While the original news took aim at China, Trump's bluster has caused European trade partners to take precautions, too. TheWashington Post reported today that the European Union published a 10-page list of American products that it could impose retaliatory tariffs on if Trump included the E.U. in his proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum. What's more, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has raised the idea of imposing individual tariffs on E.U. members, which goes against the bloc's structure of negotiating trade policy as a single entity. An E.U. official told the Post that doing so would be "absolutely non-acceptable" and "be very disruptive for transatlantic relations." It could be a coincidence, but some if the items the E.U. listed seem to take aim at specific members of the administration and legislative branch.

The Washington Post wrote:

Among them: Bourbon, a specialty of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky; cranberries which grow in House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s native Wisconsin; orange juice from Florida and tobacco from North Carolina, two political swing states that are rich in electoral votes. "It's pretty clear they're trying to wake up American legislators, who are the only ones in government who can influence the president on this issue," Chad Brown, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told the Post. This comes just two weeks after the president tweeted that "trade wars are good, and easy to win." When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy! Last March, Mexico canceled all sugar exports to the U.S. due to an understaffed U.S. Department of Commerce, which caused tension between the two countries leading up to still-ongoing, tumultuous discussions over the fate of NAFTA. As those talks continue, and tensions related to trade with China and the E.U. become more strained, the implications of importing and exporting not only basic apparel but now food and drink items remain foggy.

Source: Promo Marketing

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In Tariff War, Europe Could Target U.S. Orange Juice, Cranberries, Crocheted Garments

Orange juice is among the U.S. products that may be subject to retaliatory tariffs by the European Union - When President Trump announced that the United States would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports earlier this month, European allies warned that they could retaliate. Targets might include classic American exports such as bourbon, blue jeans and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Now, the European Union has published a 10-page list of hundreds of U.S. products that could be subject to European tariffs. The expanded list is exhaustive. It includes not only several American steel and aluminum products, but also American staples such as peanut butter, orange juice and cranberries. And still others, described in painstaking detail:

 • "Table, kitchen or other household articles, and parts thereof, of stainless steel ((excluding) cans, boxes and similar containers of heading 7310; waste baskets; shovels, corkscrews and other articles of the nature of a work implement; articles of cutlery...)"

• "Sea-going sailboats and yachts, with or without auxiliary motor, for pleasure or sports"

• "Cranberries 'Vaccinium macrocarpon, Vaccinium oxycoccos, Vaccinium vitis-idaea', prepared or preserved, not containing added spirit nor added sugar (excl. jams, jellies, marmalades, pure and pastes, obtained by cooking)"

• "T-shirts, singlets and other vests of wool or fine animal hair or man-made fibres, knitted or crocheted"

• "Women's footwear with outer soles and uppers of leather, with a vamp made of straps or which has one or several pieces cut out, with a maximum sole and heel height of <= 3 cm, with in-soles of >= 24 cm in length (excl. with uppers which consist of leather straps across the instep and around the big toe)"

• "Rear-view mirrors, whether or not framed, for vehicles"

• "Men's or boys' bib and brace overalls, of cotton, industrial and occupational (excl. knitted or crocheted)"

"We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned after Trump promised to impose the steel and aluminum tariffs. "The EU will react firmly and commensurately to defend our interests."

The EU is seeking comments from industries affected by the U.S. tariffs, which exclude steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and Australia. The EU could then decide to impose new tariffs or increased customs duties on the listed U.S. products.

Source: NPR

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Uganda : Invest in cotton by- products value chain-farmers told

KAMPALA, Uganda--Cotton farmers and Ginners in Uganda have been advised to add value to cotton by- products if they are to earn more from the crop. The call was made by the Undersecretary Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, Ethel Kamba who delivered the key note speech on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Pius Wakabi during the Uganda National Capacity Building Stakeholders workshop for the Cotton Sub sector in Kampala. The forum was organized by Cotton Development Organization, an agency at MAAIF and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Kamba said there’re more business opportunities to be exploited from the cotton by-products but the challenge is that some of the farmers lack the skills to venture into such business. “Government in collaboration with development partners such as UNCTAD will ensure that all stakeholders in the cotton subsector are equipped with modern skills needed in turning cotton by –products into useable products, “Kamba said. The Kampala cotton sector stakeholder’s forum was attended by government officials, cotton ginners, industrialists, researchers and farmers. The major objective of the two days meeting was to share information about the economic potential of cotton by-products, how the private sector can invest in value addition on them, among others. Uganda is among the four countries from East and Southern Africa that were chosen to act as a pilot country for Cotton By-Products Value Addition programme which is being supported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Other states to benefit from the program include Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe and the total cost of the program is $600,000. The project is expected to improve the capacity of cotton stakeholders in the value chain, including government officials, the private sector and farmers’ associations in Uganda and to assess the market opportunities for cotton by-products, and improve the capacity of policymakers to formulate evidence-based policies that promote value addition on cotton by-products as well as devise investment profiles to attract potential investors in the cotton and textile sectors. Speaking at the same event, the Managing Director of Cotton Development Organization, Jolly Sabune, said her organization will ensure that stakeholders in the cotton sector access modern technologies which can support them to add value to cotton by-products. "Our greatest focus is on providing the best possible technologies for production and providing more opportunities for the youth to get involved and earn from cotton growing. Given our assured market from the ginners, cotton sub-sector is already paying close to Ushs50bn to the farmers, many of whom were formally deprived by war in Northern Uganda. “She explained. Adams Bwambale from the Uganda Ginners and Cotton Exporters Association (UGCEA) said before government talks of adding value to cotton by-products, government should give priority to investing more resources to support farmers to enhance their production capacity. "Cotton can bring profits to farmers in only six months. Cotton will deliver a bigger turnaround of the economy if we invest more in boosting production, post-production and extension services.” He said. According to Dr.Lastus Serunjogi Katende, Plant Breeder and also Technical Advisor at CDO, cotton by products such as Linters which is the very short fibers that remain on the cottonseed after ginning are used to produce goods such as bandages, swabs, bank notes, cotton buds and x-rays. Other by-products like cottonseed oil are used for manufacturing cooking oil and in products like soap, margarine and making animal feeds. Serunjogi said the selling off unprocessed cotton by farmers creates bigger losses both to the country inform of revenue losses and to the farmers inform of cheaper farm gate prices which most cotton ginners tend to pay per kilogram of cotton. Cotton is one of the leading cash-crops in Uganda providing raw materials for several local industries, such as oil and soap factories, textile industries and animal feed factories. Unfortunately, cotton production has dwindled in recent years, due, in part, to the declining returns that farmers derive from its cultivation. There are plans by the Cotton Development Organization to revive the cotton sector – through increasing cotton production.

Source: East African Business Week

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Pakistan : Profit selling on cotton market

KARACHI: The rising price trend of the last two days came under check on Friday as some sellers indulged in profit selling. However, there were ready buyers who picked up every deal that was offered which helped cotton prices hold ground after recording a modest fall. Falling cotton stocks with ginners kept many small spinners active who eagerly replenished their inventories. With each passing day, the supply of quality cotton is worsening and it is difficult to get high grade lint at the closing stages of the current season. The world leading cotton markets gave mixed prices trend with New York cotton recording fresh gains for early maturing contracts but all far off contracts closed with fresh losses. There was fairly active trading which indicated that spinners are still desperate to get hold of cotton and may be even be compromising on quality. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were lowered by Rs100 to Rs7,500 per maund. The following major deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 1,000 bales, Sadiqabad, at Rs7,800; 220 bales, Khanewal, at Rs7,500; 400 bales, Fazilpur, at Rs7,300; 200 bales, Shujabad, at Rs6,800; 200 bales, Multan, at Rs6,800; 400 bales, Faqeerwali, at Rs6,400; 500 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs6,300; and 200 bales, Yazman, at Rs6,300.

Source: Dawn.com

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