Govt may hike customs duty on footwear, toys

The Commerce and Industry Ministry in its Budget guidelines to the Finance Ministry has proposed rationalization of fundamental customs or import responsibility on over 300 objects from one of a kind sectors.The authorities may increase customs responsibility on numerous merchandise like paper, footwear, rubber objects and toys in the impending Budget in order to promote 'Make in India' and increase manufacturing growth, sources said. The Commerce and Industry Ministry in its Budget pointers to the Finance Ministry has proposed rationalization of primary customs or import obligation on over 300 gadgets from distinct sectors, which include furniture, chemicals, rubber, coated paper and paper boards, they said. For new pneumatic tyres of rubber, it has proposed to hike customs responsibility to 40 per cent from the present day 10-15 consistent with cent. Similarly on footwear and associated products, the ministry has suggested growth in responsibility to 35 in keeping with cent from the contemporary 25 per cent.

               There is a sizeable increase in imports of undervalued and reasonably-priced footwear. Hike inside the duty will help address the problem of fee competition. Majority of imports are coming from ASEAN countries, with which India has a free exchange agreement. It is also suspected that China is re-routing huge portions of footwear thru these countries,’’ the sources said. The ministry has proposed to boom import obligation on wooden furnishings to 30 consistent with cent from the present day 20 according to cent. The ministry has proposed to increase import responsibility on wood furnishings to 30 consistent with cent from the present day 20 consistent with cent. For lined paper, paper forums and handcrafted papers, it has recommended doubling the duty to twenty according to cent. However, it has asked for elimination of import obligation on waste paper and wood pulp, which is currently at 10 per cent and 5 in line with cent, respectively.

The paper industry has expressed issues about cheap imports and surge in inbound shipments. This has huge negative impact on covered paper manufacturing industry. Increase in duty will help home enterprise to compete with international players. It could also protect local producers and ensure sustained boom of domestic paper enterprise. For wood, metal and plastic toys, the ministry has suggested increase in import duty to up to 100 in keeping with cent from the contemporary 20 consistent with cent. Import of these toys accelerated to USD 304 million in 2018-19 from USD 281.82 million in 2017-18 from China and Hong Kong.