India flagged concerns and impact from these measures during a recent bilateral consultations with Turkiye under the WTO‘s safeguard agreement.
On October 14, India sought consultations with Turkiye under the agreement following Ankara’s decision to extend safeguard measures on polyester staple fibres.
“We have sought compensation as we have a loss of trade. India has the option to propose retaliatory customs duties equivalent to the value of export loss if the issue will not be resolved through consultations,” the official said.
India has exported these fibres worth USD 22.18 million during 2023-24. It was USD 23.55 million in 2022-23.
In September, Turkiye decided to extend safeguard measures against imports of polyester staple fibres. “As a member having a substantial trade interest in the export of products concerned, India had requested for consultations with Turkiye on the extension of the measures,” the official added. As per a provision of the Agreement on Safeguards, a WTO member country proposing to apply safeguard measures shall provide adequate opportunity for prior consultations with those members having a substantial interest as exporters of the product concerned, with a view to reviewing the information provided, exchanging views on the measure, and reaching an understanding on ways to achieve the objective set out in the agreement.
India’s overall exports to Turkiye stood at USD 6.65 billion in 2023-24, while imports were USD 3.78 billion..
An expert said that India has been “very proactive” in the recent past about trade remedy measures and is seeking consultations with its trading partners if its trade is getting affected.
Last month, India proposed the imposition of retaliatory customs duties, under the WTO (World Trade Organisation) norms, on certain value of goods imported from the EU, as the two sides have failed to reach a consensus on the European Union’s safeguard measures on some steel products.
The EU has extended safeguard duties on imports of certain steel product categories with an out-of-quota duty of 25 per cent, for another two years till 2026.
In 2022, India had also proposed to impose retaliatory customs duties under the WTO norms on about USD 250 million worth of goods imported from the UK against Britain’s move to extend safeguard duty and quota restrictions on the import of certain steel products till 2024.