On April 29, the Commerce Department announced a new initiative to counteract that pricing advantage. US Customs and Border Protection will now begin collecting countervailing duties (CVD) in the amount equal to the preliminary subsidy rates for imports from each country. Importers will be required to post duty deposits at these CVD rates on the date the preliminary determinations are published in the Federal Register, which is expected to occur in approximately one week.
Commerce also posted a listing of subsidies it said major producers of polyester textured yarn are receiving from their government.
The list for China includes:
• Fujian Billion Polymerization Fiber Industrial Co Ltd.: preliminary subsidy rate of 32.04%
• Jiangsu Shenghong Textile Imp & Exp Co.: 459.98%
• Suzhou Shenghong Fiber Co Ltd.: 459.98%
• Suzhou Shenghong Garmant Development Co.: 459.98%
• All others: 32.04%
The list for India includes:
• JBF Limited: 20.45%
• Reliance Industries Limited: 7.09%
• All others: 13.82%
Last October, two major US synthetic yarn producers – Unifi Manufacturing and Nan Ya Plastics Corporation America – filed petitions with the Commerce Department and the US International Trade Commission (USITC) alleging that dumped and subsidized imports of polyester textured yarn from China and India are causing material injury to the domestic industry. The Commerce Department initiated the investigations in November, and the USITC preliminarily determined in December the petitioners were correct. Excluded from the scope of the investigation is bulk continuous filament yarn that is polyester synthetic multifilament yarn, has denier size ranges of 900 and above, has turns per meter of 40 and above and has a maximum shrinkage of 2.5 percent%. The merchandise subject to the investigation is classified under subheadings 5402.33.3000 and 5402.33.6000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
Source: Home Textiles Today
In an FTA, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate duties on most of the goods traded between them besides relaxing norms and rules to promote trade in services and increase bilateral investments. India, Peru, next round, FTA negotiations, August, economy, newsIndia, Peru to hold next round of FTA negotiations in August India and Peru will hold their next round of negotiations for proposed free-trade agreement (FTA), aimed at boosting two-way commerce and investments, here in August, an official said. “Chief negotiators from both the countries will hold the fifth round of negotiations for the agreement in August,” the official said. In an FTA, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate duties on most of the goods traded between them besides relaxing norms and rules to promote trade in services and increase bilateral investments. In the fourth round of talks, senior officials of both the sides deliberated upon issues such as customs procedures, trade facilitation, market access for goods and movement of professionals. The fourth round was held between March 11 and 15 this year in Lima, Peru. The main chapters of the agreement include trade in services, movement of professionals, investments, dispute settlement, technical barriers to trade, trade remedies, rules of origin of goods, customs procedures and trade facilitation. With growing uncertainties in its traditional markets, including the US and Europe, India is looking to enhance engagements with other regions such as Africa, South America and Central Asia. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said Peru holds enormous opportunities for domestic exports. “South America has huge trade potential. The agreement would help boost exports between the two countries,” FIEO President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said. Peru ranked third among export destinations for India in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. The bilateral trade between the nations increased to USD 3.13 billion in 2017-18 from USD 1.77 billion in the previous fiscal. Among the top-10 commodities that India exports to Peru are motor vehicles, cars, auto components, tyres, dyes, products of iron and steel, cotton yarn and fabrics. While the imports include bulk minerals and ores, gold, fertilisers, aluminium, coffee, crude oil and zinc.
Source: Financial Express
As Chile is the founding member of the Pacific Alliance to which India is an observer member, further expansion of the PTA is expected to strengthen relations between them and enhance India's engagement with the emerging trade bloc. India, Chile, further expansion, PTA, economy news India-Chile negotiate further expansion of the PTA (Reuters) India seeks more tariff concessions from Chile during talks for further expansion of the India-Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). On Tuesday, officials from both countries met in New Delhi for the first round of talks for further expanding the India-Chile PTA and issues relating to trade in goods, SPS/TBT, Customs, Rules of Origin etc under the existing PTA. Also, the two countries talked about further expansion of the PTA for inclusion of more tariff lines/ increasing Margin of Preference (MoP). As Chile is the founding member of the Pacific Alliance to which India is an observer member, further expansion of the PTA is expected to strengthen relations between them and enhance India’s engagement with the emerging trade bloc. Diplomatic sources confirmed to Financial Express Online that during talks between President Ramnath Kovind and President Sebastián Piñera in Santiago earlier this month the two sides had underlined the importance of holding the Second Joint Administration Committee (JAC) to review the implementation of the India-Chile PTA and to explore new opportunities for a broader and more comprehensive agreement. Under the current expanded expanded PTA, India has increased tariff concessions to Chile from 178 tariff lines to 1031 tariff lines and Chile’s concession to India have increased from 296 tariff lines to 1784 tariff lines at 8-digit HS code 2012. The expansion of the India-Chile was signed in 2017 which substantially increased the bilateral trade between the two countries. Earlier this month the leaders of both sides had emphasized the need to continue working on it and exploring new opportunities for expansion of bilateral trade. Presently, Chile offers duty concessions on as many as 1,798 goods to Indian exporters compared to 178 items earlier. And India has offered concessions to Chile on 1,031 products as against 296 earlier, at 8-digit level with MoP ranging from 10-100 per cent. A PTA between India and Chile was earlier signed on March 8, 2006, and came into force from August 2007. In the original PTA concluded in March 2006, India had offered 178 tariff lines with the MoP ranging from 10-50 per cent at 8-digit level and Chile’s offer list consisted of 296 tariff lines with MoP ranging from 10-100 per cent at the 8-digit level. Products on which Chile has offered tariff concessions include agricultural products, organic and inorganic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastic & rubber articles, textiles, apparel, articles of iron/steel & copper, machinery and equipment.
Source: Financial Express
A delegation of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) led by its president Rudra Chatterjee recently called on U.S. government authorities and raised few key issues like withdrawal of GSP (Generalised System of Preferences), oil imports from Iran which are critical for Indian economy, and Indian companies exporting to U.S. According to a statement by the ICC, Mr. Chatterjee stressed that GSP provides duty free access to certain Indian goods to U.S. market and these are further valued added and marketed by their U.S. counterparts. “While the withdrawal will impact Indian exporters severely, it will also impact importing U.S. companies equally badly,” he said. ICC urged the U.S. government to take a long term view on US-India business relationship especially when the global economy is likely to go into recession during 2019 and the ongoing elections in India. ICC felt it would be a good idea to wait to discuss these issues with the new government in June or July. Recently the U.S. govt had announced that it would be cancelling the waivers from sanctions it had granted eight countries, including India, allowing them to import oil from Iran. Following the revocation of this waiver, any country violating the ban would face U.S. sanctions. The delegation met Ian Steff, assistant secretary for Global Markets and Director General of Foreign and Commercial Service, US Department of Commerce; Hartwig Schafer, VP South Asia; Aparna Subramani, ED, World Bank; and, David Renz, deputy additional secretary in Department of State.
Source: The Hindu
Rs 1 trillion exceeded for third month since Jan, with 10% growth over a year; experts cite rising tax base as driver. Goods and services tax (GST) collection touched a record high in April, exceeding Rs 1 trillion for the third time in four months. The mop-up was 10 per cent higher over the previous year. Gross collection for the month was Rs 1.13 trillion, said the finance ministry. Despite the recent rate rationalisation in December, a rise in collection was reported. Of the total collected, the CGST (central GST) contributed Rs 21,163 crore, the SGST (state GST) Rs 28,801 crore, the IGST (integrated GST) Rs 54,733 crore (including Rs 23,289 crore on import) and cess Rs 9,168 crore (including Rs 1,053 crore on import). After settlement of the IGST and the balance IGST in a 50:50 ratio between the Centre and states on a provisional basis, the CGST stood at Rs 47,533 crore and SGST at Rs 50,776 crore. The CGST target in the Union Budget for 2019-20 is Rs 6.1 trillion. “The April collection indicates the tax base is increasing gradually, with GST getting stabilised with measures such as e-way bills and effective data mining. Perhaps one reason for this increase was also a push from businesses to their vendors for reporting sales of 2017-18, for which the last date of claiming credit coincides with GST filings for the month of March,” said Pratik Jain, partner at consultancy PwC India. He felt one could now expect the monthly collection to regularly exceed Rs 1 trillion. Tax evasion could get tougher with the GST Network (GSTN, the levy's information technology backbone) and the income-tax department getting into a formal understanding to facilitate the exchange of data. The total number of GSTR-3B or summary returns filed for March up to April 30 was 7.2 million. M S Mani, partner at consultants Deloitte India, said if the collection trend continued, the target for 2019-20 would be achieved without resorting to other measures. “An increase of over 16 per cent on the annual average does indicate GST revenues have now stabilised,” he said. In its December 2018 meeting, the GST Council cut rates on 23 goods and services, including movie tickets, TV and monitor screens and power banks, and exempted frozen and preserved vegetables from the levy.
Last July, the tax on small screen TVs, refrigerators and washing machines was cut to 18 per cent from 28 per cent. In November 2017, the rates for 178 items, including detergents, shampoos and beauty products, were reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. “The increase in GST collection, despite rate rationalisation, is a welcome upshot for Indian economy. The major reason could be reconciliation of returns and ledgers at the end of financial year 2018-19,” said Vishal Raheja, deputy general manager, Taxmann. Another reason could be computation of tax liability due to filing of annual returns for financial year 2017-18, where the due date is end-June 2019, he added.
Source: Business Standard
India’s exports: Are there signs of recovery?
This is driven by steep declines in component indices such as export orders, international air freight, automobile production and sales, electronic components, and agricultural raw materials. The revival of private investment and exports is a must to achieve and sustain over 8% growth. The recent performance of India’s exports—which expanded 11% (year-on-year) in March 2019, taking the figure to $32.5 billion in the month of March, vis-à-vis 2.4% in the previous month—is good news. Various categories of intermediate exports—engineering goods, organic and inorganic chemicals, ready-made garments of all textiles, and drugs and pharmaceuticals—contributed to this revival. The question, however, is whether this recovery is sustainable or not? India’s exports have been sluggish and had turned negative, particularly merchandise exports, between 2013 and 2016, which, along with private investment, dragged down the country’s growth. Merchandise exports affect manufacturing and, thus, jobs. Although there have been signs of exports recovery since the early 2017, the revival has not been robust and consistent. In fact, during 2018-19, merchandise exports and imports witnessed the same growth rate of around 9%, totalling $331 billion and $507 billion, respectively, resulting in 8.9% of merchandise trade deficit. The sector that contributed the maximum to exports is engineering, with a 25% share, followed by electronics and chemicals. India is doing well in exports of chemicals, both organic and inorganic, due to better quality and also as a result of high scrutiny of China’s chemical exports on environment grounds. Exports of ready-made garments—among top exports—are experiencing weak growth for the last few years. India is losing market share in some of its traditional markets such as the Middle East, France, Sri Lanka, etc, due to rising competition from countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, and the domination of unorganised players at the low end of the value chain. India has been losing out on important exports sectors such as iron and steel, non-ferrous metals and products, leather and leather products, etc. Protectionist measures in the West and aggressive pricing strategies of China, along with developments in the domestic economy (for example, shutting down Sterlite affecting copper exports), don’t help the cause either. There has been a shift in the exports basket towards value-added manufacturing and technology-driven products, but the country is losing out on important traditional sectors such as metals, textiles, leather, etc. India has the potential to do better in agricultural and primary products. Given growing demand for agricultural commodities, the policy focus on agriculture, plantations, horticulture, fisheries and meat will contribute. India is the largest producer of milk and the second largest of fruits and vegetables. Thus, the recently announced Agriculture Export Policy is expected boost exports of the primary sector. The country needs to sustain this recovery momentum and accelerate exports growth, even though the outlook for the world trade does not look promising due to a rise in nationalism and protectionist measures. The US-China tariff war is still on, and developing countries including India have started imposing higher tariffs selectively to protect their domestic industries. Monetary tightening in developed countries, along with tariff wars, may lead to volatility in global financial markets, which would lower trade finance. Such developments do not augur well for trade agreements at the WTO and for globalisation. India’s is also on the priority “watch list” of the US for not giving adequate protection to American companies due to weak IPR regimes. The WTO’s World Trade Outlook Indicator, released in February, gave a reading of 96.3%, below the baseline value of 100 in the index, indicating below-trend trade expansion for the first quarter of 2019. This is driven by steep declines in component indices such as export orders, international air freight, automobile production and sales, electronic components, and agricultural raw materials. Even though the full-fledged and long tariff war between the US and China is not good for globalisation and even for India, it actually offers a short-term opportunity for India’s exports. As the UNCTAD 2019 report brings out, only about 6% of the $250 billion Chinese exports subject to US tariffs will be picked up by US firms, whereas only about 5% of the $85 billion US exports will be picked up by Chinese firms. Therefore, India may be able to gain some traction in textiles, garments, and gems and jewellery if the Chinese exports to the US slow down. Indian exports are in a recovery stage and need support. As the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) rightly puts, we need short-term support measures for exports such as exemption of GST for SME exporters, easing of credit to the industry, online refund of input credit and interest equalisation support to agricultural exporters. Also, measures facilitating Indian firms participating in global value chain/production network, internationalisation of Indian SMEs and trade facilitation would help Indian exports in the medium to long term. It’s time to work on the recommendations (Economic Survey 2017-18) on improving trade-related logistics that would reduce trade cost and improve exports competitiveness. At the same time, India has to negotiate on many trade issues at multilateral and bilateral level, such as India’s data protection rules, challenges faced by India’s export subsidies, e-commerce policy, import duties on Indian exports such as by the EU on electronics, and dropping India from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) regime. Apart from increasing India’s exports competitiveness, the country also needs to explore more markets in Africa and Latin America. It’s also time to incentivise labour-intensive sectors like leather and to address the issues faced by exporters. India has been witnessing consistent merchandise trade deficit over last two decades, reflecting on out export competitiveness. Promoting exports eventually help boost the GDP of a country, create more jobs, boost the manufacturing sector and earn more foreign exchange. A growing and competitive economy should have increasing trade ratio, but in India’s case, the trade openness has gone done from 55% in 2012 to 40% in 2017.
Source: Financial Express
The key reasons for the downward revision are the prediction of lower-than-normal monsoon for 2019 and continued agrarian distress, and the loss of momentum in the industrial output growth, especially manufacturing and electricity. India Ratings and Research on April 30 marginally lowered country's GDP growth projection for 2019-20 fiscal to 7.3 per cent mainly due to below normal monsoon prediction and loss of momentum in industrial output. The Fitch group company had earlier projected India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.5 per cent. The key reasons for the downward revision are the prediction of lower-than-normal monsoon for 2019 and continued agrarian distress, and the loss of momentum in the industrial output growth, especially manufacturing and electricity. Besides, the slow progress on cases referred to the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, was another reason cited by the company for lowering the growth forecast. "Inability to bring the stuck capital back into the production process will have implications for investment recovery," India Ratings and Research said in a release. Investment expenditure growth, as measured by gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), has, therefore, been downwardly revised to 9.2 per cent for 2019-20 from the earlier forecast of 10.3 per cent, it added. Following the monsoon forecast, India Ratings and Research estimates agricultural gross value added growth at 2.5 per cent (earlier forecast was 3 per cent) for 2019-20 compared with the 2.7 per cent recorded for 2018-19. The key support to the gross value added growth in 2019-20 is likely to come from services, followed by industry. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) expects the monsoon to be near normal while private weather forecaster Skymet Weather Services expects the monsoon to be below normal in 2019. According to IMD, the seasonal rainfall is likely to be 96 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a model error of plus or minus five per cent. On the prices front, India Ratings and Research expects wholesale and retail inflation to remain benign at 3.4 per cent and 4 per cent in 2019-20, respectively.
Source: Money control
China, Brazil, Indonesia, Bangladesh and South Africa are among 23 countries that will participate in an informal ministerial meeting of developing and least developed countries (LDC) hosted by India here on May 13-14. The participants will discuss common concerns at the WTO including special dispensation for poorer members, growing plurilateralism, discussions on systemic reforms and e-commerce.
Delhi Declaration
“Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu will chair the meeting of trade ministers and ambassadors to the WTO on May 13-14 and a ‘Delhi Declaration’ showing the way ahead will be drafted at the end of the meeting,” a government official told BusinessLine. WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo is also scheduled to attend the meeting. “The idea is to find out how many developing nations and LDCs support India’s views on various issues. If the views are similar, attempts will be made to arrive at a common position and fight for it together at the WTO,” the official said. Rich nations including the US and the EU are questioning the special and differential treatment (S&D) at the WTO for poorer countries — which larger developing countries such as India, China and South Africa are also eligible for — and have argued that they should not have special carve-outs in terms of commitments and implementation timelines. For instance, in the ongoing negotiations on checking fisheries subsidies, the rich countries are unwilling to extend S&D to China and India. New Delhi has been stressing that S&D is one of the essentials of the WTO, and that India has a huge poor population that has to be protected from indiscriminate liberalisation. “India wants WTO reforms to continue to be seen through a development lens, and is eager for the support of like-minded countries,” the official said. The ongoing plurilateral talks on e-commerce at the WTO is another key topic. India is not in favour of plurilateral talks at the multilateral forum. It also believes that e-commerce is at too nascent a stage to require multilateral rules. Prabhu wants to have a mini-ministerial meeting of key WTO players, both developing and developed members, in September, ahead of the full-fledged official Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in June 2020 in Kazakhstan, the official added.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
The bank credit to industries (comprising Micro & Small, Medium and Large) rose by 6.9 % in March 2019 as compared with an increase of 0.7 per cent in March 2018, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) data on sectoral deployment of bank credit. The share of bank credit to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) declined from 0.9% in 2018 to 0.7% in March 2019, whereas data reveals that the credit to medium enterprises increased from -1.1% in 2018 to 2.6% in 2019. However, under the priority sector lending, credit to MSEs (including manufacturing as well as service sector) declined from 10.5% in 2018 to 7.1 % in 2019. The central bank said credit to agriculture and allied activities increased by 7.9 per cent in March 2019, up from an increase of 3.8 per cent in March 2018. Credit growth to infrastructure, chemical and chemical products, and all engineering accelerated. However, credit growth to basic metal and metal products, textiles and food processing decelerated/contracted, the data reveals. Credit to the service sector expanded by 17.8 per cent in March 2019 as compared with 13.8 per cent in March 2018 and personal loans increased by 16.4 per cent in March 2019 as compared with an increase of 17.8 per cent in March 2018. On a year-on-year basis, non-food bank credit increased by 12.3 per cent in March 2019 as compared with an increase of 8.4 per cent in March 2018.
Source: KNN India
Indian trade body Cotton Association of India (CAI) has strongly objected to the cotton production estimates issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) about India’s cotton production. USDA’s cotton production estimate for India for 2018-19 is 7.5 per cent higher than the estimate of CAI. Atul Ganatra, president, CAI said, “The USDA has estimated that India’s 2018-19 cotton production would be 345.25 lakh bales, against CAI’s latest estimate of 321 lakh bales of 170 kg each.” Ganatra listed many factors supporting the projections of CAI. “Important indicators like decline in exports by about 40 per cent, imports set to go up by 80 per cent to 100 per cent, increase in domestic prices and fall in arrivals, point that the country cannot have a huge carry forward stock of 54 lakh bales as claimed by the USDA. CAI has projected a carry forward stock of 13 lakh bales. We have written to them about it and they have agreed to make necessary corrections in their next round of estimates.” In its latest estimate, CAI has reduced the cotton crop production estimate for 2018-19 at 321lakh bales of 170 kg each which is lower by 7 lakh bales than its previous estimate of 328 lakh bales made during last month. CAI, in its first estimate issued in October 2018, had projected the 2018-19 production at 348 lakh bales. The current estimate is lower than its first estimate by 7.7 per cent. “We had to reduce the production estimates as the arrivals in the market has been dwindling fast due to the impact of drought,” said Ganatra. Some trade sources claimed that a large number of global traders are in short position and high cotton prices in India may affect their interests. Price of 30 mm cotton in the domestic market was Rs 48,200 per candy on April 30 as against? 42,000 per candy on the same day of the previous year
Source: Economic Times
Many companies are reportedly under the scanner of the tax department with authorities beginning to quiz input tax credit claimed by firms in lieu of Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid by their vendors. Tax sleuths have issued notices to companies in several states, including Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Haryana, confirming apprehensions that inspection will intensify in the new financial year as the government looks to plug the leaks, says an Economic Times report. It may be noted that the GST rule allows a reversal of input tax credit claimed by a company if its vendor has not paid the tax for which credit is being claimed. At present, there is no procedure to determine if vendors have paid GST. The return-filing status of a registered person can only be viewed on the GST Network Portal, but payment of tax cannot be determined. Buyers can only validate whether vendors have included the invoice in their GST filings, the report mentioned. A company may have actually passed on the tax to a vendor for which it wants to claim credit, it may not be possible to determine if the vendor has deposited the GST. “In such a situation, requiring the buyers to forgo their input credits when they have already paid the GST to vendors and exercised due diligence to the extent possible does not seem like a fair proposition,” Pratik Jain, national leader indirect tax at PwC, told ET. Given the stakes involved, the issue may result in litigation, he mentioned, adding that the government should review the law and modify if they consider deem it appropriate, and there should be some clarity provided to the taxpayers as to how the government expects them to confirm that vendors have indeed paid tax. The financial daily quoted M S Mani, a partner at Deloitte India, as saying, “Adequate safeguards to check misuse of the facility such as a time limit to complete the pending compliance/reconciliation can also be prescribed to protect revenue.”
Source: Times Now
The Saudi investors and businessmen have shown their keen interest of importing traditional and world class handmade carpets, apparel and chemical products from Pakistan, underlining the need for further enhancing collaboration with the Pakistan industry to promote business between both the Islamic countries. A delegation of Saudi companies, led by Saud Abdullah during a meeting with Friends of Economic and Business Reforms (FEBR) President Kashif Anwar, discussed investment and trade partnership in details with Pakistani companies. The head of the delegation observed that Pakistan traditional handmade carpets and value-added textile industry offer a huge potential for exports, as a large segment of its industry is well-organized and has achieved international efficiency levels. He said Saudi Arabia has shown a keen interest in CPEC, besides carpets and textile sectors in accordance with their Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the Saudi economy with energy mega projects to reduce oil dependency. Saud Abdullah said their interaction was aimed to attract public and private investments in Pakistan from the Kingdom and vice versa. The delegation said that the objective of their visit is to study Pakistan’s market for partnerships and investment and to strengthen the bilateral trade relations with Pakistan. Their prime interest was the handmade rugs in which they are interested to develop JVs. Kashif Anwar, who is also former vice president of LCCI, introduced the delegation about the mandatory functioning of FEBR, which has recently been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). He informed the delegation that it is an investment promotion platform, playing its role as a facilitator for local and international investors. FEBR President, on this occasion, shown an extensive presentation on various potential sectors for investment in Pakistan particularly in Punjab which includes food and agriculture, pharma, textiles, tourism, retail, e-commerce, logistics and construction etc. Kashif Anwar said this tour of Saudi Companies will help forge unity among Muslim Ummah which an urgent need of the hour for is boosting mutual trade among Muslim countries. He appreciated the Prime Minister for his efforts to revive the economy and started inviting foreign investors and buyers and to boost the volume of the exports. He said Saudi Arabia is a big deal for Pakistani carpets producers, as Pakistani handmade traditional carpets are at higher demands in international markets. He pointed out that Pakistan was one of the best countries in terms of investment opportunities and Saudi carpet makers and investors could benefit from the investment opportunities in carpet as well as textile sectors. On this occasion, Kashif Anwar also urged the government to prepare necessary changes for country’s export policy as per changing international scenario. He said that due to failed policies country has plunged into trouble in the fields of economy including exports.
Source: Pakistan Observer
China invested about $1.6 billion in Vietnam in the first four months of this year, making it the country’s fourth largest source of foreign investment, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under Vietnam’s ministry of planning and investment. Chinese investors funded several large projects in the period that included two tyre manufacturing plants. The first tyre manufacturing project was funded with a total registered capital of $280 million in the southern province of Tây Ninh and the other such plant of Advance Tire (Vietnam) Co. Ltd in the southern province of Ti?n Giang has a registered capital of $214.4 million. Economic and trade relations between Vietnam and China have been flourishing as is evident from the continuous rise in bilateral trade turnover and the former is fast turning an attractive investment destination for Chinese enterprises. China is currently Vietnam’s second largest export market after the United States. Vietnam is also China's largest trading partner in ASEAN and its eighth largest in the world. It is China’s fifth largest export market and ninth largest import market, according to a Vietnamese media report. Vietnam-China trade turnover reached $106.7 billion last year, up 13.5 per cent compared to 2017, according to the ministry of industry and trade. Vietnam exported goods worth $41.26 billion, up 16.56 per cent, while imports reached $65.43 billion, up 11.68 per cent. Vietnam’s garment and textile export turnover to the Chinese market increased by 24 per cent from $3.2 billion in 2017 to $4.1 billion in 2018, said executive director of Vietnam National Garment and Textile Group (Vinatex) Cao H?u Hi?u. Yarn was the product most exported to China, making up 48 per cent of all textiles. However, Hi?u said many Vietnamese enterprises, including textile firms, face difficulties when attempting to export goods to China, as the production scale of Vietnamese enterprises is relatively small and many enterprises have not actively explored consumption habits, market information or quality standards and quarantine testing in China.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Tunisia is keen to promote bilateral trade with Pakistan and both countries have immense potential for trade in many sectors, said Ambassador of Tunisia Adel Elarbi. Speaking to the business community at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), the envoy outlined that governments were responsible for facilitating connectivity between private sectors while it was the duty of businessmen to explore new avenues of trade and exports. “Tunisia enjoys a great strategic location which can be a gateway for Pakistan to the African and European markets,” he said. The envoy pointed out that 80% trade of Tunisia was with the European Union, hence Pakistani investors had a unique opportunity to establish joint ventures with their Tunisian counterparts in order to enhance exports to Africa and the EU. He was of the view that Africa was the future and urged Pakistan to develop strong business linkages with Tunisia for capturing a considerable share in the African market. Elarbi pointed out that Tunisia had good experience and expertise in agriculture, textile and tourism sectors and Pakistan could benefit from its experience to uplift its economy. He asked the chamber to send a delegation to Tunisia to explore new areas of mutual cooperation and assured it of complete support of his embassy in visa processing and in making the visit a success.
Source: Tribune
Pakistan’s Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research recently asked the government to set a minimum support price (MSP) for cotton so that farmers make reasonable profit. If the price falls below MSP, the government should intervene to protect growers’ interests, Senator Muzaffar Shah said while presiding over the committee meeting. The committee asked the ministry of national food security and research to calculate the cost of production, fix the MSP based on that, and initiate measures to ensure the cost of production is covered and growers get reasonable profit, according to Pakistani media reports. The committee expressed concern over cotton farmers in Punjab shifting to maize and those in Sindh switching to sugarcane. (DS)
Source: Fibre2fashion
The United Kingdom Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) is working with a group of tailoring, couture, and high-end garment manufacturers to develop a new National Apprenticeship for Garment Makers. The initiative is aimed at development of various roles including trainee couturiers, sample makers, tailors, dressmakers, costumiers and sample machinists. "Once approved, this apprenticeship and the relevant funding will be available to all employers, so we want to make sure the content is right, fit for purpose and appropriate for our industry," UKFT said in a press release. The UK apparel industry consists of mainly micro, small and medium enterprises, producing premium garments for various markets, including womenswear, menswear and childrenswear. "In line with the apprenticeship development process, we have created a standard which lists the key duties and the knowledge, skills, and behaviours expected of a competent person employed in this role. If you manufacture clothing, we’d really appreciate a few moments of your time to provide feedback. This will be invaluable for further content development, confirming sector support and will help ensure the right training is in place for our future workforce," the release added. (RR)
Source: Fibre2fashion
France and Sweden have submitted a proposal to Echa to ban or restrict over 1,000 skin sensitisers in textiles, leather, furs and skins sold to consumers. The joint initiative includes all substances classified as skin sensitisers under the CLP Regulation and 25 substances of the family of disperse dyes with sensitising properties. Ahead of the proposal, the French Agency for Food, Environment and Occupational Health and Safety (Anses) conducted a study to identify substances present in certain articles. And the Swedish Chemicals Agency (Kemi) carried out an analysis of risk management options under REACH on skin sensitisers in textiles. The two agencies propose to limit the concentration of sensitising substances under REACH to the following thresholds:
Anses also undertook an analysis of possible safe substitutes for these substances. "Chemical alternatives exist, in particular for disperse dyes for which substitution is feasible and already underway in Europe," it said. For other families of substances such as diisocyanates, implementing best production practices should reduce or eliminate the presence of these chemicals in finished articles, the agency added. Anses and Kemi estimate that four to five million EU citizens have allergies to chemicals that are present in textiles and leather. It is thought that between 45,000 and 180,000 people in the Union develop an allergy to these chemicals every year, they added. "These days it is difficult to avoid exposure to allergenic substances that may be present in textiles and leather. Once you have developed a skin allergy, it is a life-long problem," Kemi risk manager Helena Dorfh said. Echa is expected to start a public consultation on the restriction proposal in June. It will be open for six months, Anses said. After that, Echa's Risk Assessment (Rac) and Socio-economic Analysis (Seac) Committees will formulate, on the basis of all the data, an opinion which will be sent to the European Commission to decide on the adoption of this restriction. If adopted, it will be included in REACH Annex XVII and will be mandatory for textiles, hides, furs and skins placed on the market in Europe.
Industry welcome
Textiles and apparel industry association Euratex said that, while it is too early to comment on the impact of the preliminary list of substances and scope, it welcomes the effort to increase consumer protection. Businesses, it added, are already undertaking voluntary initiatives to ensure product safety in this area. Like the adopted restrictions on carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) substances in textiles, this new proposal "may truly contribute to the safety of textile articles if properly enforced", Euratex sustainability officer Dunja Drmač said. The challenge, she added, is in controlling these substances in the large quantities of imported products that may not comply with EU regulations.
European consumer organisation Beuc said the proposal is "great news for millions of consumers" across the Union. Senior policy officer Pelle Moos said EU action "so far has been scandalously slow. Now we expect that the EU Commission and the EU chemicals agency ensure that the proposal is finalised quickly, without compromising the current ambition."
Source: Chemical Watch
Negotiators from more than 180 countries are nearing agreement on a global ban on a toxic chemical linked to cancer and other health issues, but China is pushing for an exemption for use in firefighting foams, campaigners said on Wednesday. PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and other fluorinated organic compounds known as PFAS are used widely, including in non-stick kitchen ware such as Teflon, textiles, food packaging, photo-imaging, and fire-fighting foams on oil rigs and at airports. The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) is holding negotiations till May 10 on expanding three treaties that target hazardous substances, including the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. A key issue is whether to ban fluorinated firefighting foam, which is a leading cause of water contamination associated with cancer, thyroid problems and harm to fetal development, the activist group IPEN said. “We are here with fire fighters, fire safety experts and indigenous experts to call for a global ban on PFOA,” Pamela Miller, co-chair of IPEN, told a news briefing. “This is a dispersive use that is harming the health of firefighters directly and also contaminating the drinking water of millions of people around the world,” she said.
“TICKING TIMEBOMB”
Joe DiGangi, IPEN senior science advisor, said countries were seeking some 10 exemptions covering items including textiles, electronic devices and pharmaceuticals. The European Union, backed by industries, is among them, he said. “The negotiation is continuing but it appears there will be an agreement to adopt a global ban. Discussion is focused on how many exemptions will be in that global ban,” DiGangi said. “The one country advocating continued use of PFOS in fire-fighting foam is China,” he said. The head of China’s delegation at the U.N. talks, who declined to give his name or to confirm Beijing’s position while the closed-door negotiations continue, told Reuters: “We have some flexibility.” Concerns have been raised about this class of chemicals in countries including the United States and Australia. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in February it plans to control this group of toxic chemicals found in Americans’ drinking water but stopped short of setting limits until later this year. In Norway, the oil company Equinor has shifted to fluorine-free foam at its 40 offshore installations, which use about 100 tonnes of foam per year, said Lars Ystanes, Equinor environmental advisor. Activists say non-fluorinated fire-fighting foams are effective and cost-neutral alternatives which are already in use at major airports including Copenhagen and London’s Heathrow. “Firefighters across the country including every commercial airport in Australia now only use fluorine-free foam,” said Commander Michael Tisbury, Vice President of the United Firefighters Union, of Melbourne’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade. “As a firefighter I can tell you that our anxiety levels are already high because we know we have had repeated exposure to this toxic chemical for over 30 years,” he said. “Right now we feel like we have a ticking time bomb in our bodies.”
Source: Reuters
Kenya’s exports of duty-free goods—primarily textile products—to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) grew by 25 per cent last year—one of the biggest leaps in nine years, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). The value of the goods increased from Sh33.1 billion in 2017 to Sh41.6 billion last year. Capital investment rose to Sh96.3 billion in 2018 from Sh95.3 billion in 2017, while direct employment in the sub-sector increased by 5.1 per cent to 46,248 persons in 2018, according to Kenyan media reports. AGOA exports accounted for 88 per cent of the total goods shipped to the United States in 2018, KNBS said. Agoa allows Kenya to export selected goods at preferential terms to the US, exempting them from paying tax. (DS)
Source: Fibre2fashion
Stoll is set to exhibit latest textile machinery at ITMA 2019, in hall 8.0, booth D201. The textile and garment technology exhibition will be held from June 20-26, 2019, Barcelona, Spain. The Stoll product portfolio comprises 3D knitting machines and patterning software, used for the production of fabrics for fashion as well as for technical applications. In order to showcase Stoll’s versatility, there will be several topics. The new knitelligence generation will be presented. In addition to the sectors of technical textiles, fashion & technology and knit & wear, the topic Stoll-knitrobotic will be presented combined with key components of Stoll’s software solution platform, knitelligence, the company said in media statement. Short speeches on various topics related to knitting, technology, and Stoll’s machinery, services, and software solutions can be expected at a small atrium within Stoll’s exhibition booth. (GK)
Source: Fibre2fashion
